The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Akwa Ibom State, has demanded the immediate release of all its members who were arrested and detained unlawfully by security operatives in the state prior to the presidential and National Assembly elections.
In a release tagged, ‘Free all political Detainees’ signed by the PDP state Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong and sent to journalists in Uyo on Thursday, the party said its members were unjustly detained with flimsy excuses such as wearing of the party’s cap. This, he said, was instigated by the APC.
According to Ememobong, “Before the elections, we had notified the whole world of plans to harass, arrest and incarcerate high ranking members of the People’s Democratic Party in Akwa Ibom state, on the instigation of the All Progressives Congress.
“As we had predicted, hundreds of our people were arrested and detained and till date are yet to be released. These arrests were made without lawful justification and for the most flimsy reasons, like wearing a PDP cap. Most of the detainees have been denied access to their family and friends.”
He said that with the first leg of elections over, all security agencies should immediately and unconditionally release all those who were arrested for political reasons.
The PDP spokesman further said where there is any strand of evidence of wrong doing against them (PDP detainees), they should be prosecuted and called on all security agencies to act lawfully and within the ambit of the law.
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