The Osun State Government has criticised the arrest and degrading treatment of an elderly Administrative Officer attached to a Primary Health Centre (PHC) in Egbedore Local Government Area, after images showing him kneeling while in police custody circulated widely online.
In a statement shared on X by Olalekan Badmus, Special Assistant on Digital Media to Governor Ademola Adeleke, the state government described the incident as “baseless” and unjustified.
According to SaharaReporters, the elderly officer was one of four local government employees arrested on allegations of removing documents and stealing council property following the resumption of work by council staff. Members of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) had returned to duty on Monday after an 11-month strike that stemmed from a leadership tussle between the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) since 2025.
Upon the resumption of duties, two workers in Boluwaduro Local Government were reportedly arrested by chairmen reinstated by the APC, who had earlier welcomed NULGE members back to work. It was alleged that some senior civil servants had entered the council premises and packed stationery materials along with important documents into sacks.
Responding to the development, Badmus clarified that the elderly man seen in the viral photographs is an Administrative Officer attached to a PHC at the Egbedore Local Government Secretariat. He explained that several PHC workers were approaching retirement and, in line with established procedures, were required to submit their retirement notices through the appropriate channels.
He noted that the retirement process had been delayed because the relevant personnel files were kept in the main Secretariat, which remained locked throughout the duration of the strike. As a result, both the Director of PHC and the Administrative Officer were unable to process the necessary documentation.
Badmus said that after the Secretariat was reopened, the PHC Director instructed the Administrative Officer to visit the premises to retrieve the files of the retiring workers so their retirement papers could be prepared.
However, while carrying out this official assignment, the officer was allegedly arrested, harassed, and subjected to humiliating treatment, as seen in the viral images, despite presenting documents that clearly showed he was acting on official instructions related to the retirement of nurses.
The statement added that the retiring nurses later went to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) with the elderly officer to confirm his explanation and verify the legitimacy of his task. One of the nurses was quoted as saying she had even called the Administrative Officer the previous night to remind him about the files needed for their retirement processing.
Badmus emphasised that, despite what he described as the obvious frivolity and lack of merit in the arrest, the police did not release the officer until around 8pm.