We will resist oppression – PDP declares

• Protests Police arrest of Sen. Ibrahim

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has warned that the party will resist any act of oppression by the Police and other security operatives in their plot to intimidate the party leaders and open space to rig elections in any part of Nigeria.

The party, therefore, demanded the immediate and unconditional release of its Kwara South Senatorial candidate, Senator Rufai Ibrahim, and other PDP members arrested and detained by the Police in Kwara State.

The PDP in a statement in Abuja on Friday by the National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, warned the Police against harassing, arresting and detaining its members based on flimsy charges.

Ologbondiyan argued that doing this would directly pit security agents against the people in a manner that might spark off violent resistance with regrettable consequences.

The National Publicity Secretary also stated that the resort to Police brutality by the All Progressives Congress (APC) is a ploy by the party to introduce violence and use the Police to execute its rigging plots.

Ologbondiyan stated: “PDP in clear terms cautions the APC and their compromised security agents that nobody has the monopoly of a show of strength. Our members in Kwara or any other state, for that matter, are law-abiding but will never allow themselves to be subjugated by anybody, particularly in this critical electoral process.

“In this regard, our members should immediately activate their individual and collective defense mechanisms by using every legitimate means available, to resist the aggression of the APC and their compromised security agents as well as dismantle their rigging machineries.”

He added that “We know that the plan of the APC is to stop our members from accessing their polling centres. Our members should deploy all legitimate means, including lawful self-preservation strategies and tactical manoeuvres to beat the aggressions, arrive at their respective polling centres and exercise their voting rights accordingly.”

Ologbondiyan also pointed to the fact that the PDP had protested the deployment of Bola Tinubu’s former ADC, CP Kayode Egbetokun, as Kwara State’s Commissioner of Police. He said they had been alerted of plots by the APC to use him to incite the people, cause pandemonium and pave the way for outright rigging in favor of President Muhammadu Buhari and all other candidates on the platform of APC.

The PDP, therefore, called on the Inspector General of Police (IG) to immediately call Egbetokun to order.

The Kwara State Police Command arrested Senator Rafiu Ibrahim, Kwara South PDP senatorial candidate less than 24 hours to National Assembly elections in which he’s contesting to be re-elected.

The lawmaker was taken into custody to be questioned a day after the All Progressives Congress (APC) accused him of masterminding an attack on his opponent, Lola Ashiru, in Ojoku, Oyun local government area of the state.

The attack, which happened on Tuesday, February 19, reportedly left two dead and many others injured.