Protesters demand release of detained PDP members in Edo
Otti rallies support for Akpata, charges electorate to protect votes
Worried by the spate of violence in Edo State ahead of the September 21 governorship election, a group under the aegis of Edo Women for Peaceful and Credible Elections in the state, yesterday, accused the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, of being partisan, especially with the arrest of some chieftains and members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.
The protesting women, in their numbers, staged a peaceful protest at the venue where the peace accord was to be signed to register their displeasure over the perceived police partisanship in the build-up to the election.
The women chanted various solidarity songs, displaying placards with different inscriptions, such as “police are not contesting in the election,” “credible election begins with us,” demanding the immediate redeployment of the Commissioner of Police in the state, Nemi Edwin-Iwo.
The protesters also called for the unconditional release of PDP members arrested and taken away in a Gestapo-like manner to Abuja by the police. At the peace accord signing ceremony, the Chairman of the PDP in Edo State, Dr Tony Aziegbemi and the PDP governorship candidate, Asue Ighodalo, refused to sign the accord.
In declining to sign the peace accord, the PDP said that its action was based on alleged partisan dispositions of the police. Speaking to journalists at the venue of the peace accord parley, chaired by a former military head of state, Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar (rtd), the Edo State PDP Chairman said that despite the avalanches of incidence available in the public, the police had decided to be arresting his party members while those identified in the APC were walking the streets of Edo freely.
In his remarks, General Abdulsalami noted that Governor Godwin Obaseki had, on Wednesday, raised the issues of police bias and set out some conditions to be met by the police before PDP could sign the peace accord.
It would be recalled that Obaseki had earlier said that the PDP may not sign the accord over alleged police interference, indicating that the agency is acting in the interest of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and waging war against the PDP.
In another development, the Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, yesterday, called on the Labour Party (LP) members and supporters in Edo State to vote for the governorship candidate of the party, Olumide Akpata, and be ready to protect their votes to avoid any unpleasant story.
He gave the charge when he visited the state to rally votes, especially the Igbo speaking groups, for the LP governorship candidate. Otti told Edo voters that the forthcoming governorship election is a crucial one and they must ensure that their votes are guarded jealously. He said that though the party may not have the guns and ammunition to win the election, it has the people to deliver their candidate for the state’s people.
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