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SPOTLIGHTS
- Peter Asende, PDP ward chairman, and five others were arrested at their party secretariat
- The arrests were made on the orders of the Ushongo LGA caretaker chairman
- The PDP alleges a violation of their members’ rights and political motivation behind the arrests
- The caretaker chairman claims the arrests were necessary to prevent a breach of peace and enforce the ban on political gatherings
From Scholastica Hir, Makurdi
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Benue State chapter, has condemned the arrest and continued detention of its members, including the party chairman of Mbagba Council Ward of Ushongo Local Government Area (LGA), Peter Asende.
The State Publicity Secretary of Benue PDP, Chief Bemgba Iortyom, in a statement made available to journalists in Makurdi, alleged that Asende and five others were at the party secretariat to conduct administrative functions when they were arrested on the orders of the caretaker chairman of Ushongo LGA, Mvendaga Atetan.
Chief Iortyom said the arrest was a violation of the fundamental human rights of those arrested, adding that the party was seeking ways of lawfully enforcing the rights of its members in Benue.
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He said, “Men of the Nigeria Police Force on Friday arrested and have continued to keep in detention the Chairman of the PDP for Mbagba Council Ward of Ushongo LGA, Benue State, Hon. Peter Asende and five other persons.
“Hon. Asende and the others were arrested at the Ward secretariat of the PDP at Atekombo market square in Mbagba, where they had gone to conduct an administrative function of the party, and have since been kept in custody of the police at their Lessel Divisional office.”
Confirming the development via phone, a police source at the Lessel office who pleaded anonymity for fear of victimisation said the individuals were arrested on the orders of the caretaker chairman of Ushongo, Mvendaga Atetan, on the grounds of violating the ban on public gatherings recently proclaimed by Governor Hyacinth Alia.
The source said the DPO declined to entertain the request for the bail of the detained individuals, which was made by former Ushongo chairman, Lady Veronica Gajir, stating that the caretaker chairman reserves the power to grant the bail request since he is the complainant.
Iortyom further observed that the “Caretaker Chairman, Mvendaga Atetan, in turn speaking on the phone, declined bail for the detainees since, according to him, it is a weekend and nothing can be done about it.
“The Ushongo caretaker chairman also claimed that the presence of the arrested persons at the party secretariat had earlier been resisted by one Aondoyima Iorliam, who locked the facility with a padlock, but the arrested persons had forcefully gained entrance into it.
“In his view, the action constituted a breach of the peace of the area and a violation of the ban on public gatherings, and when reminded that it is harsh and a violation of the fundamental human rights of the arrested persons to keep them in detention for such a length of time, Chairman Atetan insisted that they had flouted the law and must face the consequences,” Iortyom said.
Reacting to the allegations, the caretaker chairman of Ushongo LGA, Mvendaga Atetan, who confirmed the arrest while speaking with journalists on the phone, insisted that the PDP ward chairman and the others were arrested for violating the law against holding political activities across the state.
He said the arrests became necessary because the disagreement within the PDP in the ward would have led to a breakdown of law and order.
He explained that he had a communal clash on the ground and that he was not prepared to risk another crisis in the area, adding that, moreover, the party had violated the law against holding political gatherings.
“Therefore, I had to send the police to pick them up to avert any further crisis,” he said.
