Civil Society Organisation, World Institute for Peace (WIP), has raised concerns over the whereabouts of Nurudeen Iyanda, also known as Alowonle, the Chairman of Osun State Park Management and Transport System (OSPMTS), who was arrested on allegations of gun-running.

In a statement released on Saturday by the Executive Director of WIP, Comrade Lamina Omotoyosi, the group alleged that Nurudeen, who was reportedly receiving treatment at the Osun State University Teaching Hospital after being shot during his arrest, has been discharged and is allegedly no longer in police custody.

According to the statement, ?We are constrained to raise this public alarm and express our readiness to embark on public protest if our insinuation is validated. The Osun State Government and the Police Command must explain the whereabouts of a gun-running suspect arrested on November 18, 2024, who appears to have vanished from public accountability.?

The organisation accused the Osun State Government and its security outfit, Amotekun, of facilitating Nurudeen?s alleged escape.

They claimed that standard procedures, which would require police to oversee the suspect?s treatment or transfer him to a police hospital, were not followed.

WIP also criticised statements by state officials, including the Commissioner for Information, Kolapo Alimi, and the Governor?s spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, for allegedly attempting to downplay the severity of the case and shifting focus from the criminal allegations.

?The state government has seemingly reduced the case to a civil matter, ignoring the criminal aspects involving illegal arms.

?We have been monitoring the trend very closely and have it on good authority that Alownle has been discharged from the UNISOUN teaching Hospital since last week Thursday and as at the time of issuing this statement, there is no information that is in police custody or government house clinic. We have no reason not to believe that the Chairman Osun State Park Management and Transport System (OSPMTS), is currently at large because our intelligence confirmed that he is not in police custody.

?We commend the Inspector General of Police, Dr Kayode Egbetokun and the Osun State Commissioner of Police, CP Muhammad Umar Abba for initiating investigation on the circumstances sounding his arrest and alleged shooting in the abdomen. We are fully aware about a team of detectives from the Police Force Headquarter, Abuja who visited Osun for the investigation but it sad that police appeared to be chicken out with state government blackmails which might have aided Alowonle?s escape.

?Our organisation noted how the state government succeeded in blackmailing the police to vacate the UNIOSUN teaching hospital where Alowonle was been treated and how the state security outfits Amotekun took over the security of the hospital perhaps with the motive to get him escaped and evade investigation. The standard practice in such circumstances is for the police to stay with the suspect or transferred the suspect to the police hospital for treatment to face investigation but obviously handed him over to the state government despite their bias and stands to protect the suspect.

?We choose to believe that police might also be culpable because of the sterling revelations that the recovered gun is a service pistol which is likely to belong to security personnel including the ammunition recovered from the suspect as contained in the trending video. The question we are asking is why the police should leave Alowonle to the whims and caprices of the state medical personal and state security apparatus considering the severity of the offence and the previous bias of the state,? WIP added. (Nigerian Tribune)