By Christiana Ekpa
The Kogi State Social Democratic Party (SDP) gubernatorial campaign council has accused the state governor, Yahaya Bello, and police commissioner, Berthrand Onuoha, of planning to attack the party’s supporters in Kogi Local Government Area.
Kogi is having its gubernatorial election in November, like Imo and Bayelsa in the same month.
The SDP accused Onuoha of working with Bello, who is finishing his second term next year, to intimidate the supporters of its candidate, Muritala Ajaka.
The party said Bello is reacting violently to recent developments of his supporters, including his special advisers, shifting their support to Ajaka.
“We are privy to a conspiracy by the Kogi Police Commissioner, Mr Berthrand Onuoha and Mr Bello to frame-up SDP members in Kogi Local Government Area with all manners of trumped-up offences to enable him embark on a mass crack down of our supporters this weekend.
“This diabolic plot is Mr Yahaya Bello’s response to the mass defection of APC members in Kogi (Koto) LGA in the last one week during which majority of the APC ward chairmen, a former State Assembly Member and even his own Special Advisers announced their rejection of Mr Bello and declared support for Alhaji Ajaka.
“One Bashir Gegu, a notorious thug hired by Mr Bello as aide, according to our our information, has supplied a roll call of major supporters of Alhaji Ajaka to Mr Unuoha the Commissioner of Police who is set to deploy a squad of policemen supported by Bello’s thugs led by the said Gegu to begin invading Kogi LGA from this night.
“We are shocked that the new commissioner of police posted to Kogi after his predecessor connived with Bello to engage in extra judicial killings last June has also succumbed to the lure of the Governor to attack innocent citizens,” Faruk Adejoh-Audu, the campaign council spokesperson, said in a statement.
Adejoh-Audu said the police commissioner, who refused to arrest political thugs who burnt down the SDP state office, is now witchunting its members by making himself available to Mr Bello to use against opposition parties.
“Even attacks against our supporters in broad daylight across the state particularly in Kogi East and videos released by Bello’s aides and even an LGA Chairman threatening violence against voters had been ignored by this police commissioner.
“Rather he is making himself available for a desperate Yahaya Bello to use in criminalizing political participation by clamping our supporters into detention or possibly execute them to intimidate others to enable the governor have a field day in imposing his puppet candidate on November 11, 2023 when the governorship elections hold,” he added.
He called on the minister of police, Inspector General of Police and the police service commission to tackle the “threat to survival of our democracy”
Both Mr Bello’s spokesperson, Onogwu Mohammed and that of the police command, William Avya, did not respond to calls and SMS sent to them on the allegations made by the SDP.
Ajaka left the All Progressives Congress (APC) to join the SDP and run for governor on the SDP platform. Usman Ododo, the immediate past auditor general of local governments of the state is the APC candidate.
The election is considered a three-horse race with the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dino Melaye, also in the equation.
Cases of violence have been reported since the electioneering began, continuing a recent trend in the North-central state.
