PDP charges Army, security agencies to track political mercenaries

By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has charged the Army and other security agencies to track down the political mercenaries and thugs smuggled into the country by the All Progressives Congress (APC) with which the ruling party unleashed violence on the nation to facilitate its rigging of the 2019 general elections.
The PDP also urged security agencies to compel the APC to immediately disclose the identity and whereabouts of the mercenaries and their traffickers to enable them (security agencies) to urgently flush the mercenaries out and shield our nation and democracy from further security threats.
The party said this in a statement yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan in Abuja.
According to the PDP, “Nigerians can recall that the PDP had raised the alarm when the APC, seeing that it cannot win in a free, fair and credible election, compromised our territorial borders to bring in political mercenaries from other countries to participate in their campaign rallies, as well as assist them in perpetuating violence.
“Nigerians can also recall how APC agents unbridled violence on voters in Kano, Kaduna, Rivers, Kogi, Taraba, Adamawa and other states of the federation to muscle votes for its candidates, particularly in the Presidential election; and how the APC leadership stood in staunch defence of the compromising of our territorial borders as well as the violence that characterized the elections.
“This was in addition to apprehensions of possible plots by the APC to use the thugs to cause confusion and derail our democratic process, should they fail to rig the elections.
“It is instructive to note that the APC had not been able to state the whereabouts of these thugs after the elections, a development that has raised fears that they had filtered deeper into our national territory and population, given the escalation of banditry and associated acts of violence in many of our states, including Zamfara, Borno, Yobe, Taraba, Kaduna, Katsina among others, since after the elections”, it said.
The PDP therefore restated its demand for an investigation into the alleged link between the APC and the ugly security situation in our nation.
It said, “This is particularly as the APC is now overweighed by public disapproval and opprobrium for rigging the election; and being faced with huge legitimacy challenges ahead, can resort to all manner of shenanigans just to divert public attention from its odious status.
“The PDP, as a law-abiding party, committed to the unity, stability and sovereignty of our nation, as well as the deepening of our democratic process stands with Nigerians in their refusal to be distracted by the APC in the determination to get justice for our nation at the tribunals”, the statement said.