In a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday and signed by its publicity secretary, Lai Mohammed, the party disclosed that Mr. Garba's residence at the NNPC Quarters, Area 11, Abuja, has been surrounded by armed policemen since 3 a.m. on Thursday, making it impossible for the party’s spokesman even to go to the mosque for prayers.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has deplored what it described as a police siege on the residence of Shehu Garba, the director of media and publicity for the APC presidential campaign organization. The party stated that the illegal police action was in line with the ongoing harassment and intimidation of the party's leadership by security agencies.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday and signed by its publicity secretary, Lai Mohammed, the party disclosed that Mr. Garba's residence at the NNPC Quarters, Area 11, Abuja, has been surrounded by armed policemen since 3 a.m. on Thursday, making it impossible for the party’s spokesman even to go to the mosque for prayers.
“Going after the spokesman of our party's Presidential Campaign Organization is aimed at muffling the organization’s voice and abridging the constitutionally guaranteed rights of the spokesman himself. This is antithetical to democracy and totally unacceptable,” the statement declared.
The party urged those who sent the armed police officers to Mr. Garba's residence to immediately order their withdrawal and tell Nigerians what he has done to warrant such harassment.
The party said that the current development, coming after the siege by armed troops on the Lagos residence of the APC’s national leader, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as well as a similar siege on the Imo State Government House in Owerri, represented a clear signal that the Goodluck Jonathan administration has finally launched its much-anticipated clampdown on the opposition ahead of the general elections.
“The PDP and the Jonathan administration are bent on badgering the opposition through the harassment, intimidation and arrest of its leaders as well as the circulation of unfounded rumors against the party. These actions are all aimed at fomenting a crisis and scuttling the forthcoming elections.
“We are therefore calling on all Nigerians as well as the international community to take note of this growing pattern of harassment and intimidation of the opposition, and the effect such action will have on the conduct of the elections,” the APC said.