The All Progressives Congress (APC) has raised the alarm over the mass arrest and intimidation of its members in Osun on Saturday as the state’s governorship election continues, saying over 250 of its members have been arrested so far in Osun.
”At this point, APC is constrained to alert Nigerians and the international community that what is going on now in Osun State Nigeria is not an election but a coup against democracy,” the party said in a statement issued in Osogbo by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
”This is definitely not an ordinary election. It is the total hijack of the process and direct violation of the rights of the people. Osun State has been turned into a theater of war. An ongoing state-sponsored political terror against the Osun people and the entire people of Nigerians has been unleashed by an elected President against his own people, against his own country, in an unprecedented act of political desperation.
”As at 11 am this morning, over 250 APC members and leaders have been arrested all over the state by the security task force. The DSS alone has over 50 APC members in their custody. On the contrary, no single PDP member has been arrested so far. This is barbaric and constitutes an infringement on the constitutionally-guaranteed rights of those who have been arrested,” it said.
APC said the magnitude of arrests, the viciousness of the operation and the widespread intimidation of APC members have confirmed the party’s fears, which were expressed in several press statements ahead of the election.
The party said President Jonathan, in an unparalleled desecration of national institutions, has simply turned the men and women in uniform against the people, as the entire security outfits now owe their allegiance to the President, rather than to the nation, and are at his beck and call.
It said even as the election progresses, police officers from other neighboring states are being shipped into Osun to intimidate the state’s voters.
”PDP is not relenting in its plan to unleash terror and provoke violence after the accreditation of voters in order to prevent APC members from voting. Tear gas and gun shots will be released sporadically to scare voters from voting and create confusion at the poling units, so the agents of the PDP can substitute ballot papers and boxes,” APC said.
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