Judex Okoro, Calabar
All Progressives Congress has condemned the arrest and prosecution of one of its members, Joseph Odok, by security agencies for allegedly criticising Cross River State, Governor, Ben Ayayde.
The party, in a statement by its National Vice Chairman, South South, Hillard Ettah, in Calabar, yesterday, deplored the anti-democratic disposition of the governor, saying the state is sliding into dictatorship.
“We are constrained to react to the commando-style arrest and incarceration of Odok, by Ayade-led administration.
“We may not be conversant with full details of his arrest but we want to completely align with growing public opinion that the issues are as flimsy as the kind of excuses that Ayade would adduce for often descending on those opposed to his many failures in the governance process.
“Odok, a dye-in-the-wool member of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Cross River, and a Buharist to the core, has since his defection from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) always pointed out grey areas in Ayade’s administration, including digging deep into areas his apologists would not point out to him for correctional purposes.
“If this Odok’s disposition is Ayade’s albatross to have allegedly ordered his arrest and detention for over two months now, then this government does not deserve to be on the democratic turf. It is, at best, a military junta for its intolerance to opposing or dissenting views.
“It is important to state that Odok does not deserve the inhuman treatment he is passing through. We, therefore, urge the police high command to do a thorough investigation on his arrest and detention and possibly set him free,” Ettah said.
He wondered why should the PDP shedding crocodile tears when people are lawfully arrested for staging a revolution; embarking on religious unrest and for sleaze, when one of their governors would not tolerate mere criticisms from the people
“Our party vehemently opposes and condemns this act of brigandage and militarisation of democratic governance as is being visited on Odok as an opposition chieftain.
“We call on members of the Cross River State community at home and in the diaspora to save our state the trouble of descending into a police or pariah entity as is being witnessed under PDP-led administration by rising up and call for Odok’s release,” he said.
Special Adviser to the governor on Media and Publicity, Christian Ita, said: “I can tell you categorically that the governor has no hand in Odok’s travails. Rather the governor is trying to see how he can intervene in the matter.
“I advise Ettah to stop being hypocritical and concentrate, instead, on how to find lasting solutions to the crisis ravaging APC in both the state and at national levels.
“He should first remove the log in his eyes before removing the speck in another man’s eyes.”
Odok, an activist and a blogger, was arrested on September 26, 2019 from his residence in Abuja and transported to Calabar on September 27, 2019 by the men of the Nigeria Police (Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).