Stakeholders foil attempt by the police to stop PDP meeting in Niger

Olabode Adaramola

Hundreds of members of the Niger state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) last Thursday foiled an attempt by the police in Minna  the state capital,  to stop a stakeholders  meeting at the state Secretariat of the party .

The PDP members from the 25 local government areas of the state arrived the Secretariat as early as 9.00am before the police despatched some of its men to the place to stop the assembly arrived.

The meeting was summoned by the State Chairman of the

party, Barrister Tanko Beji  in conjunction with his other Executive members to affirm the position of the national working committee on the crisis that has polarised the party.

National Wire gathered  that armed policemen who came to enforce an ” order from above” that the meeting should not hold met an already filled hall and had to use one of it’s vehicles marked  NPF9993C to block the main entrance to the Secretariat.

The state chairman of the party, Barr.  Tanko Beji later led some officials
to the police headquarters where he briefed the commissioner of police
Muazu Zubairu that the meeting was a purely party affair without any plan to cause a breach of the peace as being alleged.

National Wire further gathered  that the stakeholders meeting was almost through when another detachment of policemen stormed the secretariat asking that the meeting should stop.

There was a shouting match between some youths of the party and the
policemen who were trying to force their way into the Hall to stop the
meeting from continuing .

However a plain cloth policeman accompanied by an armed escort entered the hall where they met the stakeholders offering prayers for the repose of the late former governor of the state,  Alhaji Abdulkhadir Abdullahi Kure  and could not take any action.

It was further observed that the security men initially attempted to arrest the chairman of the party but shelved the plan because of the likelihood of the action causing a breakdown of law and order.

A deputy commissioner of police (names with held) later met the chairman in his office during which he had an interaction with him.

The police were to later ask the chairman and other members of the
executive to vacate the secretariat to allow for all the stakeholders to
leave the premises.

Speaking with newsmen later, Barr.  Tanko Beji described the development as “undemocratic and uncalled for” saying “I don’t know when a peaceful political party  meeting has become of interest to the police” .

” There is no cause for alarm, there is no problem, they told us that they
were informed we wanted to cause mayhem”

Beji denouncing the allegation declared “we value peace, we cannot cause a breakdown of law and order”.