From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
The Labour Party (LP) has strongly condemned the alleged disruption of rally organised by supporters of its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and his running mate, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, in Katsina State.
A viral video on social media shows where a crowd wearing caps and other materials carrying the Labour Party logo complained about the refusal of security agents to allow them to hold the rally.
Reacting to this in a statement, LP National Publicity Secretary Arabambi Abayomi said the action was unacceptable and called for the immediate redeployment of the Commissioner of Police in the state.
“It is fast getting very much clearer that the APC has officially adopted violent attacks on LP’s presidential candidate support group across the states of the nation. LP finds this trend quite unacceptable and condemn the growing terrorism of APC in virtually some APC controlled state in the nation.
“Once again, LP has to re- emphasis the fact that no one political party has a monopoly of crude and organised violence.
“It is an irony that a sitting governor who has earlier so pompously claimed that Peter Obi is not known beyond the South East has been caught up by retributive justice to be frustrated into violence by the share strong, heavy and frightening huge crowd of loyal willing supporters of Peter right in the center of his self-deluded political safe zone.
“One simply hopes that the security agencies will not continue to appear helpless as this chain of planned and choreographed violence are visited relentlessly on the LP presidential support groups all over the states under APC in the country.
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“With the ongoing level of insecurity to properties and lives of the people in KATSINA as a result of banditry, mass killings, very many rampant and audacious cases of kidnappings in this KATSINA State, it is quite disheartening that rather than try to confront these large scale terrors, the Government of KATSINA chose to ignore insurgency only to get busy in using weapons of destruction against the harmless and peaceful Obi-dient supporters.
“The APC that has technically surrendered to the Insurgents as it opted for begging and negotiating with the terror groups finds it so appropriate to visit innocent citizens with official terror as it fails woefully at protecting the lives and properties of the Katsina State residents who live in daily fear of terrorists.
“How could this very clueless and incompetent Govt of APC against the ever growing band of kidnappers and bandits win , when the arms bought with tax payers money are simply shared to APC party thugs and hoodlums.
“The APC federal and state govts are cancers in the seat of governance everywhere they are ruling. In Katsina State at the moment for a citizen to travel from one town or village to another is a matter of life and death because of the danger posed by the terrorists who appear to have tactical cover and support from the APC govts,” he said.
According to Abayomi, the increasing violence being employed by the APC governments in the nation, smells so much of political conspiracy within the rank and file of APC and it confirms the wide suspicion that APC covers, sustains and indirectly empower terror in the nation.
“It is well that APC has chosen to from this early show its intentions to grow political violence in the country ahead of the 2023 elections which translates to mean that the SECURITY AGENCIES should not begin to think that excuses and or alibis would do when the come eventually become the come and the chips are down.
“LP is here and now putting it on record that there is fast approaching a time when LP will not be able to control the anger of its loyal supporters who are always the direct victims of the APC organised violence.
“Notwithstanding the crude ways and means of APC, it is quite clearly and loudly shown by the Voting Public that the people have finally and irreversibly decided to effect a change in Aso Rock in the coming election and intimidations and harassment can not help APC in anyway. Nigeria and Nigerians are tired of a crippled governance by the APC and are are now fully prepared to take their Nation back from APC.
“Labour party hereby called for the immediate redeployment of the Kastina State Commissioner of Police so that he can be reminded that he is an officer of the Nigeria Police and not state police of Kastina State,” the statement read.