The spokesman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) Muri-Sam Campaign Council, Farouk Adejoh-Audu, has angered the State Police Command and its Commissioner, Bethrand Onuoha, for linking them to the temporary occupation of the State Headquarters of the Independent National Electrical Commission (INEC) by hoodlums yesterday, November 29.
The Command, today, November 30, gave Adejo, a 24-hour ultimatum to prove his allegations against it or face the process of answering some questions from them.
In a statement in Lokoja, the State capital, the command Public Relations Officer, SP Williams Ovye-Aya, said: “the Command is hereby giving Farouk Adejoh-Audu 24 hours to substantiate his allegations against the State Police Command and the CP or we might have no option than to invoke our operational processes to hold him to account for his reckless and unsubstantiated claims.”
The Command described the allegations against the command and the CP as very weighty, frivolous and disturbing, saying: “the Police Command doesn’t belong to any political party.
“Our responsibility is to protect lives and property, a mandate we have protected without fear or favour.”
The Command said that Adejoh-Audu, had in a statement yesterday, accused the Commissioner of using policemen and thugs to barricade the INEC office in Lokoja, saying that the target of the Commissioner was to use ambush and attack lawyers and forensic experts of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), as well as INEC officers inspecting documents and materials used for the November 11 governorship election.
The Command accused the SDP media officer of saying that Onuoha was not only privy to the attack, but also plan to use plain cloth personnel in five unmarked Toyota Sienna Buses to trail the SDP team and INEC personnel and shoot at the convoy as they depart for Abuja.
It said that the allegations were not only reckless but a direct affront on the integrity and authority of the Nigerian Police Force.
The Command warned the SDP and other political parties “to desist from disturbing the peace of the state.
”Anyone that tries to obstruct operations at the INEC Office will face the full wrath of the law.”
It said that the command would conduct unbiased investigations into the allegations “to ensure that a final knell is placed on attempts by politicians to drag the Police Force into partisan disagreements.”
Source: NAN.
