From Saka Bolaji, Minna
Hundreds of party faithful on Thursday foiled an attempt by the police in Minna to stop a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stakeholders meeting.
The meeting took place at the state party Secretariat.
The PDP members from the 25 local government areas of the state arrived the Secretariat as early as 9.00am before the police came to the venue to stop the assembly arrived.
The meeting was summoned by the Alhaji Tanko Beji-led state executive to affirm the position of the national working committee on the crisis that has polarised the party.
It was gathered that armed policemen who came to enforce an “order from above” that the meeting should not hold met an already filled hall and had to use one of it’s vehicles NPF9993C to block the main entrance to the Secretariat.
Beji later led some officials to the police headquarters where he briefed the Commissioner of Police Muazu Zubairu that the meeting was a purely party affair without any plan to cause a breach of the peace as being alleged.
Our Correspondent learnt that the stakeholder’ meeting was almost through when another detachment of policemen stormed the secretariat asking that the meeting should stop.
There was a shouting match between some youths of the party and the policemen who were trying to force their way into the hall to stop the meeting from continuing .
However, a plain-clothed policeman accompanied by an armed escort entered the hall where they met the stakeholders offering prayers for the repose of the late former governor of Niger state Alhaji Abdulkhadir Abdullahi Kure and as such could not take any action.
It was also observed that the security men initially attempted to arrest the chairman of the party but shelved the plan because of the likelihood of the action causing a breakdown of law and order.
A deputy commissioner of police later met the chairman in his office during which he had an interaction with him.
The police were to later ask the chairman and other members of the executive to vacate the secretariat to allow for all the stakeholders to leave the premises.
Speaking to newsmen later Beji described the development as “undemocratic and uncalled for” saying “I don’t know when a peaceful political party meeting has become of interest to the police. There is no cause for alarm, there is no problem.”
Leave a Reply