From Noah Ocheni, Lokoja
The Alhaji Muritala Yakubu Ajaka’s Campaign Organization has allegedly uncovered a conspiracy between some security chiefs in Kogi State to abduct the Social Democratic Party (SDP) Governorship Candidate, Alhaji Muritala Yakubu Ajaka.
In a press release signed by the Director of communication, Faruk Adejo and made available for journalists in Lokoja alleged that they intended to frame him with trump-up charges with the aim of clamping him into detention.
Details of the plan according to the statement began manifesting on Tuesday to hastily arraigning Alhaji Ajaka before a Lokoja Court to legally seal the plot to incarcerate him indefinitely.
In furtherance of the plot, the statement alleged that “the State Commissioner of Police Hakeem Adeshina Yusuf who had obstinately refused to investigate our petition of attempted assassination against Mr Bello and his band of thugs and gunmen who attacked our motorcade on June 3, 2023 is now stalking our candidate at the behest of Mr Bello to accuse him of been the aggressor in the attack.”
The release alleged that “Some gun men in Mufti appeared at an address on Khartoum Street in Wuse, Abuja at about 12:30pm Tuesday claiming they have been detailed by Mr Yusuf to arrest Alhaji Ajaka for attempted assasination, gun possession and terrorism as a result of the same attack carried our by Mr Bello and his gun men.”
“These elaborate plot is an obvious manifestion to stop the escalating popularity of the SDP Candidate in the November 11, Governorship Elections.” the statement added.
“Alhaji Ajaka has no record of violence whatsoever at anytime in his political career, but in the last four months, the candidate, members of his campaign team have been at the receiving end of State violence from Federal security agents who have been obviously compromised to torment political rivals of Mr Bello.”
The statement pointed out how party members cried out to all the relevant agencies of state to rein in Governor Bello and get him to play by the rules of engagement of electioneering to no avail.
“Where in the word is an interested party in an election allowed the pleasure to arrest opponents and clamp them into detention to prevent them from campaigning.
This plot was hatched after a campaign outing by Alhaji Ajaka at Idah during which a mammoth crowd never before recorded in history of rallies in Kogi State came to receive him.”
It was also alleged that “Two weeks ago, he procured security agents in the state to extra judicially execute Mallam Kabir Bala aka Okwo, a thug he freed from prison and unleashed on defenceless citizens of the state at the dawn of the 2019 Elections. Okwo was among about 20 thugs he freed from custody across the state to use for violence electoral mayhem in 2019.”
The Director, communications pointed out that Okwo was a reverreded member of the APC who was even Inaugurated by Mr Bello as the Ofu LGA Coordinator of the Tinubu/Shettima Campaign Council.
“Okwo was also one of the 67 delegates to the APC National Convention. At no time was he ever accused, invited or arrested for any crime since 2019 until he openly renounced violence and announced his support for Alhaji Ajaka before he was hunted down killed and then accused of various violent crimes.”
Once again “we are calling on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to call this outlaw of a governor to order since we cannot press charges against him due to his executive immunity.”
Using the state institutions of compliance to suppress opponents in an election with the force of arms is akin to coup d’etat and we hereby task the Federal Government of Nigeria under president Tinubu to forestall such an unconstitutional desperation.
