The Police Command in Lagos have communicated intention to interrogate a traditional ruler over a viral audio threatening and intimidating prospective voters resident in a community in Eti-Osa area.
The police spokesman, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed this on Saturday.
Hundeyin said: “The traditional ruler, a Baale, is to be invited for questioning. Intimidating voters will not be allowed.
“Everyone should feel free to vote the candidate of his or her choice,” Hundeyin said.
A recorded audio of a meeting allegedly held on Monday at the instance of the traditional ruler had gone viral.
In the 11 minutes and 34 seconds audio, the speakers alleged to be the traditional ruler and one other person requested the residents and those doing business in the area to vote for APC in the forthcoming elections.
The traditional ruler wanted to know how many persons at the meeting had their PVCs and only about 20 answered in the affirmative, out of about 60 persons said to be in attendance.
“If we take the number of people here, we will not be less than 60, but only 20 have PVCs; what is happening to the rest?
“We are ready to fight; yes, I am not hiding it; I have narrated everything to you. In Nigeria, there is Lagos; in Lagos, there is Eti-Osa; within Eti-Osa, we have Igbara community and by the grace of God in Igbara today, we can take our decision.
“The people that will be friends with us, that will do business with us are those with PVCs and are willing to vote for our party. Nothing short of that,” the purported traditional ruler said in the audio.
“You want to vote for other political parties? Not here! Elections have been coming and going, we have never done this before,” he added.
Another voice in the audio strongly instructed people to take photo shots of their ballot papers after casting, to confirm that they actually voted APC in the elections.