A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello and the security services not to arrest the Social Democratic Party (SDP) governorship candidate Alhaji Murtala Ajaka.
Visitodell reports that the court order was issued on Thursday in response to a fundamental rights enforcement petition submitted by Ajaka.
Ajaka claimed in the suit that his life was in danger and that he was receiving threats from the authorities.
The court ruled that Ajaka’s motion had validity and granted an injunction prohibiting the respondents from arresting, inviting, detaining, or threatening Ajaka’s life and property.
The ruling was issued in response to a petition filed by human rights campaigner Chief Femi Falana, SAN, demanding the Inspector-General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun, to demobilize “armed thugs and killer squads” operating in Kogi state.
Falana, SAN, said that the goons were given authority to intimidate and terrorize perceived political opponents. He accused Governor Bello of utilizing both state and non-state entities to persecute Ajaka and his followers in order to assure the succession of his cousin.
He said: “Thus, without any legal justification, our client has become a victim of unwarranted harassment, intimidation and cheap blackmail.
“For instance, while on a thank you tour of the state on the 3rd day of June 2023, our client was attacked along with his team of supporters at about 12.30 pm after visiting the palace of His Royal Highness, the Ohimege of Koton-Karfi.
“The dastardly attack took place while our client and his supporters were returning to Lokoja around the Banda Nataco Axis. Our Client’s convoy was attacked by armed gunmen who were dressed in police uniform in official vehicles of the Kogi State Government.
“Life bullets were sporadically fired directly at our client with the sole intent to assassinate him. While our client was lucky, some of his supporters were seriously injured and were rushed to the hospital, where they were treated for different degrees of bullet wounds.
“As a follow up to this incident, our client petitioned the Commissioner of Police in Kogi State and requested that the matter be investigated but rather than carry out an investigation of the said incident, our client is now being hunted around Abuja by the State Governor.
“He has dispatched a team of police officers to arrest our client and forcefully take him to Lokoja on trumped-up charges of terrorism and treasonable felony,” Falana stated in his petition.
He asked the IGP to investigate the matter and “direct the immediate demobilization of all armed thugs and killer squads set up by the State Government to intimidate the perceived political opponents” of the governor.
The state government, led by Yahaya Bello, has disputed the charges, claiming that the SDP candidate is not a genuine contender in the upcoming election.
“We know the contenders and the pretenders, and he is not a political threat as far as Kogi State is concerned,” said Kinsley Fanwo, the state’s Commissioner for Information and Communication.
