{"id":121977,"date":"2025-09-05T14:01:38","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T13:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=121977"},"modified":"2025-09-05T14:01:38","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T13:01:38","slug":"police-harassment-of-el-rufai-attack-on-malami-dangerous-for-democracy-adc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/police-harassment-of-el-rufai-attack-on-malami-dangerous-for-democracy-adc\/","title":{"rendered":"Police harassment of El-Rufai, Attack on Malami dangerous for democracy-ADC"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">By Myke Agunwa<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has expressed grave concern over the increasing use of law enforcement agencies to harass and intimidate opposition leaders, while criminal violence continues to devastate communities across the country.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The party described as politically motivated, the police summons issued to former Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, as well as the attack on the former Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami\u2019s convoy in Kebbi State, which left many party members injured.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">In a statement signed by Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the National Publicity Secretary of the ADC on Friday, the party described these developments as an assault not just on individual politicians, but on Nigeria\u2019s democracy itself. It warned that the Nigeria Police Force has seemingly become a willing tool of political suppression for the federal government rather than a national security department, that is truly focused on rooting out bandits and other criminals across the country.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">ADC expressed concerns that \u201cat a time when terrorists and criminal gangs freely operate in large parts of the North, the Nigerian Police appears more interested in silencing opposition leaders than protecting citizens. After the recent attack in Kaduna, where the former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai and other ADC leaders were attacked; in Kebbi, the convoy of former Minister for Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN) was violently attacked in broad daylight around the GRA area of Birnin Kebbi\u2014barely meters from a police outpost. Despite the seriousness of the attack, no arrests have been made, and the perpetrators remain at large.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThis growing trend is disturbing \u2014 and all Nigerians should take note. In Kaduna, the police reportedly looked away as thugs\u2014armed with stones and cutlasses\u2014attacked a peaceful ADC gathering. Instead of arresting those responsible, the police are now targeting the victims with summons.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cEvery hour spent harassing El-Rufai and shutting down ADC offices is an hour not spent confronting the terrorists and criminals destroying lives across the North, and the urban bandits destroying the nation\u201d.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The coalition party also alleged that \u201cpolice authorities in Kaduna sealed off the ADC party offices ahead of a planned meeting of zonal leaders\u2014a deliberate attempt to stifle our constitutional right to assemble and organize.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThese acts by the police are not isolated. They represent a systematic attempt to criminalize opposition politics, especially in states where the ruling party feels threatened by the growing influence of the ADC\u201d.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The ADC calls on the Federal Government and the Inspector General of Police to immediately withdraw the politically motivated summons issued to Nasir El-Rufai and other ADC leaders in Kaduna State. These invitations they said, are not about justice or security, but for silencing dissent and should therefore be halted without delay.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The party demanded that the police authorities unseal the ADC office in Kaduna State, and stop the illegal obstruction of lawful political activity. It added that no democracy can thrive where opposition party structures are routinely shut down under vague pretexts.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Among other demands, the party said that \u201cThe Nigerian Police must also publish the names of those who filed complaints that triggered these recent investigations and summons. The public deserves to know who is behind these attacks on political freedom, and what interests they serve.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cWe further demand that security agencies arrest and prosecute those responsible for the attack on Abubakar Malami\u2019s convoy in Kebbi State, as well as the violent thugs who disrupted our stakeholders\u2019 meeting in Kaduna. The failure to bring these perpetrators to justice only emboldens further violence.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cIn addition, we call for an internal disciplinary process within the police to investigate officers who were present during these incidents but failed to act. Those who stood by and allowed political violence to occur should not be wearing the uniform of the Nigerian state\u201d.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">ADC urged the Federal Government to redirect the focus of the Nigeria Police toward their primary duty\u2014 protecting the lives and property of all Nigerians, instead of being used as a tool of political manipulation.<\/div>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Myke Agunwa The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has expressed grave concern over the increasing use of law enforcement agencies to harass and intimidate opposition leaders, while criminal violence continues&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":121978,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-121977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - 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