APC tasks Police on spate of violence in Kogi

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has called on the police to thoroughly investigate the spate of violence in Kogi and bring the perpetrators and their sponsors to justice.

Mr. Felix Morka, the party’s national publicity secretary, made the call while briefing newsmen at the party’s national secretariat on Thursday in Abuja.

He noted that in spite of substantial compliance with electoral laws and the Constitution in the conduct of the off-season governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi States, the post-election situation in Kogi has been controversial.

He said that the state had also been bedevilled with orchestrated violence that now threatens its peace and security.

Morka recalled that the opposition parties that contested the election, particularly the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), were severely conflicted between accepting and challenging the results.

“We condemn, as dangerous, the incendiary rhetoric of opposition figures in Kogi who continue to inflame passion and incite strife. Their actions and utterances provide a charged atmosphere for the escalation of violence in the state.

“We especially condemn the reported attack against the Secretary of the Election Tribunal, Mike Umar David, on Monday, Dec. 4, in very spurious circumstances.

“The SDP clearly has a lot of explaining to do regarding this incident. Their utterances and actions, prior to and since that incident, betray suspicious special knowledge of the incident,” Morka said.

He recalled that prior to Monday’s incident involving the Tribunal’s Secretary, the residence of the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Dr. Gabriel Longpet, was also attacked on Dec. 1 by armed hoodlums.

The APC spokesman stressed that these and other acts of violence in Kogi were barbaric, undemocratic, and unacceptable.

He added that the people of Kogi deserved to live in peace and security after the election, saying that these sponsored and senseless acts of violence must stop.

“We note and welcome the statement by the Kogi Police Command of an on-going investigation of the alleged attack on the Secretary to the Election Tribunal and the Resident Electoral Commissioner.

“We urge the police to do so thoroughly and expeditiously and to bring the perpetrators and their sponsors to justice,” Morka said.