The Publicity Secretary of the group, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, in an interview with one of our correspondents in Abuja, said the parade of the suspects in Abuja showed “undue sectional deployment of federal might.”
The police had, on Monday, at the Force Headquarters, Abuja, paraded 20 suspects, including a traditional ruler, Oba Ademola Ademiluyi, the Lawarikan of Apojeland, for alleged involvement in the Ile-Ife crisis.
The Force said 46 persons were killed and properties worth millions of naira destroyed during the mayhem while 96 others were hospitalised at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital out of which 81 of them were treated and discharged while 15 others were still on admission.
The Force Public Relations Officer, Jimoh Moshood, said 38 suspects were earlier arrested, detained and investigated, out of which 18 persons, who were not involved in the violence, were released.
Checks, however, indicated that all those paraded for their involvement in the violence were Yoruba, but the police spokesman denied that the investigation was targeted at a particular group.
He insisted that the suspects were indicted by the investigators, noting that evidence collated by the police showed that the suspects were all involved in the violence that rocked the ancient city.
Moshood stated, “It is not a one-sided thing; suspects from different backgrounds were arrested and some of them were released when investigations showed that they had nothing to do with the violence.
“To be specific, 38 suspects from various backgrounds and ethnic groups were arrested, but 20 of them, who were found culpable for direct and indirect participation in the killing of innocent people were detained and they would be prosecuted.”
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