President of Senate, Mr Bukola Saraki yesterday called on well-meaning Nigerians and international community to hold Inspector General of Police, IGP, Mr Ibrahim Idris responsible should anything untoward happened to him or members of his family in the months ahead.
Saraki who made this allegation while addressing a press conference at Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Presidential Campaign Headquarters in Abuja yesterday said some unidentified men invaded his family house in Ilorin and inflicted injuries on some occupants, in the full glare of men of Nigerian Police.
The Senate President linked his ordeal to the support being enjoyed by PDP in Kwara state even as he accused Police of protecting “merchants of violence”.
He said, ”The entire world should hold IGP responsible if anything untoward happens to members of my family and myself.
“Police have continued to show undisguised hostility to me and my supporters in Kwara State and this latest round of violence is part of efforts to jeopardise and undermine my personal security and that of my immediate and larger family.
“Three incidents will illustrate what I am saying to you. Yesterday (Thursday), after All Progressives Congress, APC, concluded their campaigns in Ilorin, some of their supporters and thugs moved around town and in areas like Adewole/Adeta, Ile Otan and Ubandawaki/Pakata where they saw our people gathered holding their weekly ward meetings.
“They disrupted the meetings by shouting their party slogan and when our people responded by mentioning our own slogan, they fired gun shots into their midst in Adewole/Adeta. They also inflicted matchet cuts on some of them. As a result of this attack, two people suffered bullet wounds.
Continuing, Saraki claimed that “these same APC thugs shielded by policemen went to my family quarters in Agbaji in Ilorin, and vandalized houses, shops and inflicted wounds with machete on three people.
“All these destructions took place in the presence of policemen who came with them but watched without any care, as APC thugs and supporters unleashed violence on our people. For me, personally, I believe the decision to attack people and properties in my family ancestral compound is a direct affront and attack on my person. And whatever signal these APC elements with support from the police believe they are sending is definitely sinister, uncivilized and unfortunate.”
He added that the victims have filed reports of the incidents in relevant police stations in Ilorin, noting however that “we have doubts that anything tangible and constructive will come out of these reports.”
Accusing the Police boss of complicity, Senate President added that “the same Police under the directive of Inspector General of Police, Idris yesterday (Thursday) commenced transfer of Divisional Police Officers (DPOs) out of Kwara State. While the police are free to take decisions on the deployment of their personnel, we found the postings in Kwara State strange and more than a mere coincidence.”
He also drew the attention of Nigerians to the fact that IGP has posted three different Commissioners of Police to Kwara State in the last six months, stressing that “the previous and current Commissioner of Police in the State got strict instructions from IGP not to relate or engage with the Senate President.
“The usual practice has been that the Commissioner of Police personally ensures the security of the Senate President whenever he visits his home state. That was the practice during the period of my predecessor and in my first year in office.
“We need to make it clear to the entire world that now that ward to ward campaigns is about to begin in the state and I am set to participate in that grassroots campaign as I have always done; nobody is sure what instructions Mr. Idris has given to the police command in the state.
“Do not forget that before now, this same IGP has tried several tricks to implicate me in some criminal charges. First, he arrested some cultists and was about to compel them to claim they worked for me. We exposed the trick early enough and the media also pointed out holes in his story. He quickly withdrew that.
“Later, he went on to the Offa robbery case and politicized the investigation in order to rope me. In the process of forcing suspects to implicate me, the principal suspect died in their custody. He has also not succeeded with that plot. Who knows what else he may have planned.
“It is important for Nigerians and members of the international community to note that this IGP, Idris does not believe his job is to protect lives and properties of all Nigerians, irrespective of political, religious and cultural belief. A situation where political thugs and operatives attack opponents of APC under the watch and protection of law enforcement agents does not present Nigeria well in the comity of nations,” he added.
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