The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) has expressed doubt that the forthcoming governorship taking place in Imo State will be credible due to an alleged reign of terror in the state.
This was disclosed in a press statement by the Executive Director of RULAAC, Okechukwu Nwanguma.
He said that there had been steady incidents of violence and repressive attacks on political opposition and critics of the government in Imo State under Hope Uzodinma.
According to him, the civic space in Imo State was constricted to civic engagement and political participation by all stakeholders and political interests in the state.
He added that the civil society, political opposition, and the media have been silenced through intimidation and violence.
He noted: “ On Wednesday, November 1, 2023, a security aid to Governor Hope Uzodinma known as Chinasa Nwaneri who commands the Ebubeagu state-controlled militia, led several thugs accompanied by police officers from the Tiger Base and other formations under the Imo State Police Command to violently assault leaders and members of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and abducted Joe Ajaeoro, the President of the NLC, having also brutalized him, tore his clothes and took him to the dreaded Tiger Base which is the police unit that executes the terror agenda of the Uzodinma government in Imo State.
“If the police had credible reasons to arrest Ajaero, they did not need to have deployed such level of unprovoked and unwarranted maximum violence and attack on his human dignity, as evidenced by witnesses’ accounts and video footage.
“Regrettably, Police in Imo, under CP Ahmed Barde, have remained tools of political violence and oppression in the hands of the Hope Uzodinma ruthless government.”
The human rights activist stated that the attack on the NLC President and other leaders and members of the NLC by agents of the governor Uzodinma regime, acting in concert with police operatives under the Imo State Police Command was a daredevil and condemnable act of state violence against the labour movement and against freedom of expression.
He further noted that the abduction of the labour leader, his brutalisation to the point of now putting his life in danger, and the dispossession of his personal belongings including cash, phones and other valuables were condemnable acts of tyranny, robbery, oppression and suppression of basic freedoms.
He also said: “The attempt by the police to twist the facts- following a backlash- by denying their reckless and barbaric actions and instead claiming that they took Ajaero into protective custody is a cowardly and fruitless attempt to deceive Nigerians who already know the truth, and who also know that this action is typical of the vicious methods of the government of Uzodinma in dealing with opposition and critics of his government.
“The Nigerian Labour Congress NLC and its allies in the labour movement must seek redress both in court as well as embark on appropriate political actions to protest this tyranny. This disturbing state of affairs in Imo has grave implications for the forthcoming November gubernatorial election in the state.
“From all indications, the forthcoming November 11 governorship election in Imo, will be a zero-sum game as the Uzodinma government has taken every undemocratic step to exclude all other political parties and legitimate interests in participating in the elections.
“He has seized control of state institutions including law enforcement and security agencies as well as the election management body which, as it stands now, are tied to his apron string and decidedly at his back and call. He has deployed all forces and tactics of violence and coercion to close the democratic space to prevent popular participation to ensure free, fair, peaceful and credible elections.
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“A further signal that the November governorship election will be more of warfare than a free, fair and peaceful electoral contest is the move to deny election observers and other stakeholders spaces and accommodation in hotels in Owerri. The attempt by the Imo State government to pay for all the rooms in all the hotels in Owerri one week before and days after the election day is part of the diabolical stratagem to prevent access to the state by independent observers to observe and document the process and outcome of the election.
“This can only be because there is a sinister scheme to prevent an independent observation and scrutiny of the process of the election. The voices of the people are not likely to count, and the outcome appears determined.
“President Bola Tinubu must direct security agencies and INEC to play by the rules and to ensure that the Imo election is conducted by the Electoral Act, the constitution and democratic principles.”
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