ACN to IG: Call your men to order in Kwara

Posted by admin Kwara, National Politics Saturday, December 25th, 2010

THE Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has asked the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Hafiz Ringim, to call his men to order in Kwara State, where the Police are being used by the state government to instigate violence and harass innocent ACN members during and after the October 30 council polls in the state.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Friday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party also warned the state government to desist from its current tactics of deliberately fomenting trouble in Offa local government to brighten its poor electoral chances in the area, ahead of a possible re-run council poll there.

The ACN said the current mass arrest and arraignment of its members in Offa, in the aftermath of the October 30 local government poll, by the PDP using the machinery of the Kwara government, and the connivance of the Police, has already created tension and panic in the area.

‘’It is common knowledge that widespread rigging and violence were perpetrated by PDP thugs, led by the Police, during the local government election across Kwara. In the process, lives were lost. But our people in Offa resisted them.

‘’The election was subsequently cancelled and an inquiry set up, and our people rightly fingered PDP thugs and the Police as being behind the ballot-snatching and mayhem.

“On Thursday, they (ACN members) were invited to Ilorin, ostensibly to meet with the Commissioner of Police. But instead, they were arrested, arraigned in court and detained. The PDP thugs who perpetrated the violence and attacked our members were not even invited for questioning!

‘’To make matters worse, the Police, at the behest of the state government, have been going from house to house in Offa to pick known stalwarts of the ACN. This is to weaken our supporters and members in Offa and give the PDP an unfair advantage whenever the election is held again.wp_posts