Clement Adeyi, Osogbo
The principal of Ede Muslim High School 1, Ede, Osun State, Mr. Khalid Abbas, who was said to have issued a statement of the result of Senior Secondary School Examination and testimonial to Senator Ademola Adeleke, has fallen sick and is receiving treatment in a hospital in Ede, Osun State.
Our correspondent learnt that Abbas lamented on his hospital bed on Tuesday that he had been subjected to incarceration by the police and some law enforcement agents for issuing the senator the credentials.
He added that a team of policemen came to his office on July 24 last year and harassed him for issuing Senator Ademola the statement of result and testimonial and later put him in detention after which he was granted bail.
He added that some people he never knew their identities had been calling him on phone and sending text messages to him, threatening to kill him if he failed to cooperate.
The principal lamented that due to the pressure, he had fallen sick and now suffering from high blood pressure, headache, cough, and joint pains.
He disclosed that there were records that Senator Adeleke enrolled into the school in 1976 and finished in 1981.
He added that he acted on the record he met when he became the principal and issued the statement of result and the testimonial.
Abass said that although there was an error by the registrar in the testimonial in terms of date and the WAEC number, it did not warrant his incarceration since the error could still be corrected.
He said that unknown identities had been looking for him.
“They are after my life and I don’t know them,” he lamented.
“I did not collect money from anybody. I did my job without fear or favour. If anybody feels that I have done anything wrong, let them take me to court. I am ready to face the court,” he said.
His family members, in a statement in Ede on Tuesday, alleged that in August last year, Mr. Ambass was incarcerated by law enforcement agents for ten days and had been falling sick incessantly since then.
“Our son, Khalid Adejare Abass, was made an object of ridicule by law enforcement agents. He was made to travel between Lagos and Abuja during his ten-day incarceration as a common criminal between August 1 and 11 when he was under unlawful detention. He was not allowed any medical attention nor allowed to visit any hospital for a check up. Since his said incarceration, our son Khalid Adejare Abass has been in and out of the hospital as an outpatient,” the spokesman for the family, Abdulrazaq Abass, said.
He added: “For now, he is recuperating in a hospital due to his bad health. As family members, we are calling on the law enforcement agents to please leave our son alone and stop further unjustifiable arrest of the said Mr. Adejare Khalid Abass.”
He added that he had “been unduly punished for doing his legitimate duties as a principal of a school.”
Abass’ lawyer, Kanmi Ajibola, said the principal did not commit any offence under the law that would warrant any punishment.
He claimed that his client was innocent and had done his job as the principal of the school.