Police in Ogun State have vowed to proceed with its investigation of the allegations of sexual harassment levelled against the state Commissioner for Environment, Hon Abiodun Abudu-Balogun.
State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, stated that the Commissioner of Police, Edward Ajogun, had ordered the transfer of the case to the Criminal Investigation Department at the Police headquarters in Eleweran, Abeokuta, the state capital.
According to the PPRO, inspite of the victim’s family’s decision to officially withdraw the case against the Commissioner, the command will continue its probe of the alleged scandal.
He said, “The father of the victim has no loco standi to tell the police that he’s no longer pressing charges against the Commissioner because he is not our complainant.
“He is not the person that was directly involved in the case. The victim is his daughter and even the daughter herself cannot withdraw the case because she is underage.
“Secondly, the case is an offence committed against the state; so they are no longer complainants, it is the Commissioner of Police versus the suspect (Abudu-Balogun).
“They are just witnesses in the case. So, the police are going on with investigations to confirm the authenticity of the claims.
“The CP has directed that the case should be transferred to the State CID for proper investigations; so their position is immaterial.
“We cannot conclude that the case will be charged to court until when we confirm that the offence was actually committed. If the offence was actually committed, we will not hesitate to charge it court and see the case to a logical conclusion.”