Ben Dunno, Warri
The Delta State chapter of the Committee for Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) has warned against undue interference by the state government and its agents in the internal politics of communities across the state in order to avert creating bad blood among kinsmen that could lead to anarchy.
Specifically, the body frowned at the way and manner in which a Senior Special Assistant to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa from Ekakpamre community in Ughelli South Local Government Area, one Simon Mudi, otherwise known as Tempo, allegedly wanted to impose an unpopular candidate on the community under the guise that he was acting on the instructions of the governor.
CDHR has, therefore, called on Governor Okowa to call all his aides from various communities in the state to rder.
The CDHR said some of the aides are too much nvolved in local leadership politics and using his name and government apparatuses of government including law enforcement agencies at their disposal to carryout acts capable of truncating the peace presently being enjoyed in the state.
The body also appealed to the various security agencies in the state, especially the members of the Nigerian Police Force, not to allow themselves to be used by these power-drunk aides of the governor to oppress the will and wish of the people at the grassroot level who are determined to elect the leaders they believe would give them sincere representation in their own affairs.
CDHR Chairman, Comrade Kehinde Prince Taiga, who was reacting to last weekend invasion of the community by alleged sponsored thugs and men of the Special Anti Robbery squad from the state command, Asaba, who shot indiscriminately at the direction of the indigenes protesting perceived imposition by political elites and in the process injuring scores of people, noted that the barbaric act must not be swept under the carpet.
He urged the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Zone 5, Benin, where the matter was reported by the body in a petition dated January 13, 2018, to revisit the case and bring all the culprits involved in the dastardly act to book in the interest of justice.
The body warned that it would not hesitate to take the matter to a higher level if those earlier arrested and later released on bail over the incident on the order of the AIG were not rearrested and prosecuted in court over the ugly incident.