ABUBAKAR AUDU'S SON, FAMILY RELATIVES ARRESTED IN KOGI

Mohammed Audu, a son of the late Governor of Kogi State, Abubakar Audu, has been arrested by the police, multiple sources, including family members, have confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES.

Mr. Audu’s younger brother, Mustapha, said his brother “and about 15 other family members” were arrested Wednesday and are being detained at the Lokoja Police Division.

Mustapha said the Audu family believes the arrests were “ordered” by Governor Yahaya Bello.

The governor has denied masterminding the arrests.

Asked why Mr. Bello would order the arrest of the Audu family members, a family source alleged the development was a response to the attack on Yahaya Audu, late governor’s younger brother who represented the family at the Kogi 25th Anniversary ceremony on August 28.

Yahaya had received a posthumous award conferred on the late Mr. Audu and 24 others by the state government at the ceremony.

But on his return to Ogbonicha, the ancestral home of the Audus in Ofu Local Government Area, PREMIUM TIMES learnt that Yahaya was physically attacked by community members who are still aggrieved with Mr. Bello’s government.

A day after the anniversary ceremony, Mohammed, late Audu’s eldest son, in a statement on behalf of the family, mocked the governor and said he should have used resources meant for the ceremony to pay workers.

When contacted, the police spokesperson for the state said he was not aware of the development. He asked for time to “make contact to confirm.”

In his reaction through a statement by his spokesperson, Kingsley Fanwo, Mr. Bello said he could not have ordered the police to arrest the Audu family members.

He said the police should be free to work, and that politics should not be linked with criminality.

Mohammed Audu is fighting through the courts alongside James Faleke to dislodge Mr. Bello as Kogi Governor.

Mr. Faleke was the running mate to late Audu on the APC ticket in last year’s governorship election. After Audu’s sudden death the day after the poll, the party drafted Mr. Bello in to continue as its candidate in the supplementary election.