The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has criticized the Kaduna State Police Command for its handling of the violent disruption of the party’s inauguration meeting in Kaduna.
The event which held over the weekend, was disrupted by armed thugs, leaving party members injured.
In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the party accused the police of trying to “criminalize legitimate political activity” instead of protecting citizens.
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Abdullahi said the party had properly secured the venue and warned against using security agencies to intimidate opposition groups.
“When the Kaduna State Police Command issued its press release on the unfortunate disruption of the ADC meeting in Kaduna State, where our party leaders and members were attacked by armed thugs, we expected reassurance that justice would be done and that those responsible for the violence would be held to account. Instead, what we read was a troubling attempt to criminalize legitimate political activity, pre-judge individuals, and cast the opposition in the light of lawlessness,” the statement said.
The ADC faulted the police for linking it to “political gangsters” even while investigations were said to be ongoing.
“This contradiction exposes the statement as more political than professional. Investigations should establish facts before conclusions are drawn; when police act as judge and jury, it undermines both justice and democracy,” the party added.
It also rejected the police claim that the gathering was “unauthorized,” insisting that the right to assemble peacefully is guaranteed by the constitution.
“A Police notification is a matter of procedure and often courtesy, not a license to exercise a right that has been granted by the constitution. To suggest otherwise is to turn citizens’ freedoms into privileges at the mercy of the state,” Abdullahi stressed.
The statement further described the threat to hold hotels and event centres “liable” for hosting political meetings without police approval as intimidation.
“It amounts to intimidation of private citizens and businesses, effectively denying opposition parties access to spaces for lawful activity. No democracy thrives where access to public or private venues is determined by the whims of security agencies under any guise,” it said.
On the suspension of “unauthorized gatherings” announced by the Kaduna police, ADC said it was an overreach. “Security agencies are to protect lawful assemblies, not proscribe them. To arrogate to themselves the power to decide which political meetings may hold is to hand the police veto authority over democracy itself,” the party noted.
The party demanded a transparent investigation and accountability from the police.
“Our party remains committed to peaceful, issue-based politics. We therefore demand that the Kaduna State Police Command immediately revisit its statement, conduct a transparent investigation, and explain why its officers allegedly abandoned their duty when our leaders and members came under attack,” the party stated.
It warned against selective policing: “Democracy is not a crime. Selective policing is. Still, we in the ADC will not be intimidated into silence.”
The party called on Nigerians to reject any form of intimidation and not to be stopped from defending democracy.
