The Kogi State Police Command has denied allegations of a planned attack on supporters of Murtala Yakubu Ajaka, the gubernatorial candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

In a statement issued by its spokesperson, SP William Ovye Aya, the command said the allegations were “fake, incendiary, perfidious and malicious.

Aya said the allegations were made by Faruk Adejoh-Audu, the director of communications for Ajaka’s campaign organization.

He noted that the allegations were a figment of the imagination of Adejoh-Audu and Ajaka, who had both “mastered the art of political gimmickry and brigandage.”

Aya warned that the Commissioner of Police, Bethrand Onuoha, who upon assumption of duty one month ago has so far demonstrated a high level of professionalism by providing a level playing field for all Political Parties and their Candidates to operate in the State, should not be dragged into Politics.

He added that the entire narrative to injure, assassinate and malign Onuoha’s reputation is the height of insensitivity, callousness, self-servingness, emblematic desperation, vindictiveness, a Propensity for destructiveness and the salivating political ambition of a psychopath.

Aya urged Ajaka and his campaign organisation to leave the police alone and focus on issue-based campaigns and soliciting support from the electorate instead of resorting to cheap blackmail and arm-twisting political sympathy from the public.

“The candidate and his Campaign organisation should leave the Police alone and focus on issues-based Campaigns and soliciting support from the electorate instead of resorting to cheap blackmail, bullying and arm-twisting for Political sympathy from the public, who already know their tricks, gimmicks and antecedents,” Aya wrote in the statement.

The command also recalled that Ajaka and his supporters blocked and attacked the convoy of the state governor, Yahaya Bello, on Saturday, June 3. The attack left some of the governor’s aides injured.

“On 3rd June 2023, along the Abuja-Lokoja road, the SDP Candidate Murtala Yakubu Ajaka and his supporters blocked and attacked the Convoy of the Executive Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, at Banda, some kilometres away from Lokoja. During the attack, some of the Governor’s aides sustained varying degrees of injuries.”

All attempts to get Ajaka to share his perspective on the situation, according to the command, were futile.

The command added that although Ajaka has been moving around the nooks and crannies of the state without any molestation, even when he has no immunity, the case is still under Investigation.

The command, however, appealed to Ajaka and his supporters to stop making false allegations against the police and also urged the public to disregard such allegations.

“Stop all the negative write-ups and frivolous allegations aimed at undermining the spirited crime-fighting efforts of the Police in Kogi State, whipping up sentiment against them, and heating up the State for no just cause,” it added.