BREAKING: Ondo Inspector Arrested Over Alleged WhatsApp Post On Planned Police Protest Transferred To Abuja

Inspector Emoruwa Olabode, attached to the Idanre Police Station in Ondo State, has been transferred to Abuja following his arrest by police authorities over a message allegedly shared in a WhatsApp group concerning a planned nationwide protest scheduled for July 21, 2025.

The protest aims to demand improved working conditions for both serving and retired police personnel.

SaharaReporters had earlier reported that Inspector Olabode was arrested on Friday, July 4, 2025, and taken from his station to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) in Akure, where he was held in solitary confinement.

Olabode is being detained over a message shared in a WhatsApp group for police officers, where he serves as one of the group’s administrators.

On Monday morning, SaharaReporters learned that a team of officers from the Ondo State Commissioner of Police's office escorted Olabode to Abuja from the SCID in Akure, marking an escalation in the crackdown on perceived organisers of the protest.

It was also reported that two other administrators of the WhatsApp group had previously been arrested and transferred to the Force Intelligence Department in Abuja, where they have been in custody for over two weeks. They were identified by sources as Otamere Ewamade, popularly known as "Hero," and Fasoyin Ayodeji.

The arrests have drawn concerns among police personnel and observers, who see them as part of a broader effort to suppress internal dissent and stifle calls for reform within the Nigeria Police Force.

"Apart from Inspector Olabode, I was equally informed that one Otamere Ewamade, aka Hero and one Fasoyin Ayodeji, whose ranks and divisions or formations are yet unknown, were arrested in the Lagos State Police Command about two weeks ago and taken to Abuja, where they are being detained for the same reason,” a source told SaharaReporters.

When SaharaReporters reached out to Olabode's wife, she confirmed that he had been taken to Abuja early on Monday morning and expressed concern that their children were not well.

The police authorities have denied him permission to send money to the family for their medical treatment.

“They left for Abuja this morning. I was informed early this morning that they have left Akure," she said.

Lamenting the situation, she said, "My children are not well. My second boy is seriously sick, and since Friday, they (police authorities) have not even allowed my husband to send money to us. They have collected his phone since that Friday when he was arrested, and this morning, they left for Abuja.

“They didn't allow me to collect his phone. I even called the IPO who holds his phone that my child is sick, and he said he would release the phone today, but today, the people who carried him to Abuja collected the phone."

The planned nationwide protest is expected to draw attention to the working conditions of police personnel, and the arrests have raised concerns about the handling of dissenting voices within the force.

At the heart of the agitation is a longstanding demand for the removal of the Nigeria Police Force from the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), which the retirees argue has subjected them to years of economic hardship, delayed entitlements, and a lack of dignity in retirement.

Many have cited cases of depression, financial embarrassment, and even premature deaths among their ranks as a result of the current pension structure.

The retirees are calling for the establishment of an independent Police Pension Board that would exclusively manage police pensions, separate from the broader CPS framework. They argue that the unique risks and sacrifices associated with policing warrant a more tailored and humane retirement system.

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