The Akpabio administration in Akwa Ibom State has concluded plans to open the floodgates of violence against the political opposition in the state. Impeccable intelligence reports suggest that the state government is about to attack and arrest leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Accord Party in the state under a number of pretexts in order to pave way for the completion of the imposition of Udom Emmanuel as governor on the state.
Emmanuel is a governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) handpicked by the wife of the governor and imposed on the state, according to a recent stunning revelation by the state governor himself, Chief Godswill Akpabio.
Details of the plot indicate that leaders of the opposition will be attacked by thugs of the state government and those who survive the attacks are to be arrested and detained by security agencies till the end of the upcoming elections. A source familiar with the plot said Governor Akpabio has been boasting in meetings of the terror wing of the PDP government in the state that most of the leaders of the opposition will not be around in the state to witness the elections.
Giving a graphic account of the plot, the source said one of the devices of the government is for the state government to send out agent provocateurs who will commit acts of arson like burning their cars by the homes or offices of leaders of the opposition and blame such acts on them as excuse to launch attacks and call in the police to arrest those who survive.
The source pointed out that the current administration in the state is well practised in such dirty tricks, recalling the wholesale destruction of government property, including hundreds of vehicles, which it later blamed on the then opposition Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) as a pretext to arrest and put away its leader, Senator James Udoedehe, until about polling day, thereby denying him the opportunity to campaign for votes ahead of the elections.
Government’s agent provocateurs have already started a campaign of harassment and intimidation on the opposition by ripping off campaign banners and billboards as well as arrests of opposition supporters.
Politically motivated violence has been on the rise in the state since 2007. Hundreds of members of the political opposition have been killed or maimed, the latest being the murder of Chief Albert Ukpana in his home in Abak and the attempt on the life of Chief Sonny Udom, director general of APC Campaign Organisation in the state.
Following the alarm raised about the attack on Udom’s office, security agents in the state paraded five men described as armed robbers and accused them of the bloody raid on Udom’s office in Uyo. Nearly eight months after showing them to members of the public, the suspects have not been charged to court.
No comments:
Post a Comment