The Kogi State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is urging the immediate arrest and prosecution of Muritala Yakubu Ajaka, the governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the November 11 gubernatorial election.
During a press conference in Lokoja on Friday, Kingsley Fanwo, the spokesperson for the Kogi State APC campaign council, asserted that Ajaka orchestrated an attack on the residence of Gabriel Longpet, the Kogi State Resident Electoral Commissioner.
This attack, as per Fanwo, involved a fierce gun battle with security agents and resulted in the burning of vehicles at the commissioner’s residence.
Furthermore, Fanwo claimed that these alleged assailants also made an unsuccessful attempt to set fire to the Kogi State Government House, which was thwarted by security personnel.
His words, “The bold-face criminality being perpetrated by the defeated SDP candidate and his violent gang of criminals is as a result of the lack of consequences over the gruesome killing of Khadijat at Kotonkarfe by agents of the SDP. They shamelessly came out to say Khadijat was bearing an arm.
“Till date, Muritala Yakubu Ajaka and his gun-welding killers have been moving freely on the streets. If they had been arrested for killing an innocent woman, they wouldn’t have had the guts to attempt to attack the Kogi Resident Electoral Commissioner.
“The reason they are desperate to destroy some documents in INEC is to cover the heist they committed in Kogi East where they killed APC supporters and drove them out of collation centres to forge the results that were eventually trumped by the massive votes of Kogites for the Governor-Elect.
“They are attempting to corrupt certain documents in INEC before handing them to their legal team. We have no problem allowing legal terms to access documents and materials. It is the norm. But we won’t allow any desperate bloodthirsty politician to tamper with the true verdict of the Kogi people.
“After their violent protests a few days ago, our people have also moved to Lokoja to ensure their mandate is protected. Resorting to assassination and arson will never help the Social Democratic Party and their confused candidate. Now is the time to arrest Muritala Yakubu Ajaka before he throws Kogi into a state of anomie”.
While noting that democracy is the expression of the wishes of the people, Fanwo called on the Police, DSS and other security agencies to immediately arrest Muritala Yakubu Ajaka to advertise anarchy in Kogi State.
The APC campaign spokesperson alleged further that Ajaka and the SDP as well as their internal and external collaborators have imported dare-devil thugs into the state to kill, maim and destroy critical infrastructure to create a total breakdown of law and order in Kogi State.
“We call on security agencies to ensure those imported to kill our citizens are immediately fished out and prosecuted. We also call on Governor Yahaya Bello to ensure our people are protected from assassins and arsonists brought into our dear state to ensure the flow of blood. How desperate can Muritala Yakubu Ajaka be? The violence witnessed in Kogi East because of the desperation of Muritala Yakubu Ajaka was not witnessed in the West and Central.
“He turned himself into an outlaw, attacking the opposition, killing opposition members and boasting to go free because of his mouthed connection with certain powerful people. Kogi must not be allowed to become a lawless place and the only solution now is to use Muritala Yakubu Ajaka as a Scapegoat,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the Director of New Media Muri/Sam Campaign Council for SDP, Isaiah Davies Ijele condemned the assassination attempt on the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner.
Ijele said, “Election should not be treated as a war, nor should it be a matter of life and death. If the election was won fairly and transparently, then the legal process should be allowed to run its course without interference.
“However, it is unacceptable for thugs, in their high numbers yesterday, to be subjected to fake protests, insisting that on no account should forensic teams be allowed to do their jobs.
“We are grateful for the timely intervention of the Army, as the man and his family could have been wiped out overnight. The attackers also burnt his vehicles and took other valuables. This kind of behavior is not acceptable in a democratic society.
“Those individuals who have been involved in these attacks on INEC REC must be held accountable for their actions.
“We call for all those who have been involved in the protests, inciting violence and making provocative statements, to be apprehended and brought to justice.”
