Imo LP demands release of state assembly candidate

• Carry your cross, don’t get us involved, state govt replies • Former lawmakers condemn arrest

Imo State chapter of the Labour Party (LP) has demanded immediate release of the Owerri Municipal candidate of March 18 state Assembly elections, Clinton Amadi, accusing the state government of masterminding his arrest.

Amadi was arrested, on Tuesday, when he went to demand for certified true copy of results at the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in Owerri.

But the state government has denied involvement in LP’s woes.

In a statement issued by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Declan Emelumba, LP was urged to stop accusing the state government and face its problems.

A statement, yesterday, issued by the state Chairman of the party, Festus Onyekwulisi, said: “Imo State LP demands immediate release of the party’s House of Assembly candidate for Owerri Municipal Council in the last election, Clinton Amadi, who was illegally arrested and detained by men of Nigeria police from Tiger Base unit of the state police command.

“Our candidate, in obedience to a court order, which he obtained from a court of competent jurisdiction, had gone to inspect and collect certified true copies of result of the election at the INEC office in Owerri in pursuance to his petition at the election tribunal, wherein the arrest was made with no arrest warrant nor prior invitation by the police.”

The statement reminded that his arrest was a violation of Amadi’s right.

Menwhile, a group of former members of the state Assembly under the aegis Former Honorable Members of Imo State House of Assembly (FOMIHA) has condemned the arrest of Amadi, who is one of its members.

In a statement, yesterday, co-signed by the Chairman of the group, Ike. C. Ibe; the Secretary, Innocent Onwuamaenyi; and the Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Ogbu, the group said the arrest was viewed as “politically motivated,” calling for his release.

The statement reads in part: “FOMIHA has received the shocking news of the violent abduction of one of its members and financial secretary, Clinton Amadi, at the INEC headquarters, Owerri, yesterday.”

The group, therefore, called on the state government and security agencies not to take actions that would overheat the polity.