A church deacon and expert on police affairs who knows incumbent Oba of Lagos, Alhaji Rilwan Akiolu, very well has come out to expose him as an Igbo hater. Oba Akiolu has been in the eye of the storm since he told visiting Igbo chiefs in his palace over the weekend that any Igbo who does not vote his preferred candidate during this Saturday’s governorship election in the state would die in the Lagos Lagoon within seven days.

Writing on his Facebook wall yesterday, Deacon Ben Okezie, a veteran journalist who made his name as an expert on police affairs, said:

“I can speak authoritatively about the antecedent of the AKIOLU Rilwan, the retired Assistant Inspector General of Police. Simply, he is an Igbo hater. When he was posted to the Police College, Ikeja, as the Commandant, he ensured that the Igbo Deputy Commissioner was posted out for another Yoruba officer. Whenever cases affecting Igbos are brought to him, he ensures they don’t get justice. He was more involved in land cases. He exhibited his total disdain for the Igbos when Donald Iroham, who was then the Commissioner of Police in Imo, was posted to Lagos Command. AKIOLU’s venom and rage resonated at the Force Headquarters. He told the IGP then, ‘You cannot post an IBO officer to Lagos while I AM the Oba.’

“That we allowed the sleeping dog to lie does not mean Igbos are stupid. The police, I suppose, is a federal institution. Today, he has exhibited it again. Igbos should enjoy full liberty in Lagos. I once interviewed the past Oba of Lagos in Eko Concord and he said any Igboman who lived in Lagos and pays his tax for ten years should be regarded as a Lagosian. I don’t think AKIOLU subscribes to such opinion.”