The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has faulted the report by Kaduna State Police Command over its handling of weekend’s violent disruption of the party’s inauguration in Kaduna where party members were attacked by armed thugs.
The party demanded that the Command must immediately revisit its statement, conduct a transparent investigation, and explain why its officers allegedly abandoned their duty when party leaders and members were under attack.
In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the party accused the Kaduna State Police Command of attempting to criminalize legitimate political activity while failing to protect citizens, insisting that the venue was duly pre-booked and that security agencies must not be used to intimidate the opposition.
The party said that when the Command issued its press release on the unfortunate attack, it had expected reassurance that justice would be done and that those responsible for the violence would be held to account but lamented that instead, the police tired to criminalize a legitimate political activity, pre-judge individuals, and cast the opposition in the light of lawlessness.
According to the coalition party, “the Police statement rushed to link the ADC to “political gangsters” even while stating that it has commenced an extensive investigation into the alleged political violence. 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.
“Second, the claim by the Kaduna police that our gathering was “unauthorized” is dangerously presumptuous. In a democracy, the right to assemble peacefully is guaranteed by the Constitution, not a State Police Command. 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.
“Third, the threat that hotels and event centres will be “held liable” if they host political meetings without police approval is equally ludicrous. 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”.
ADC said that the blanket suspension of “unauthorized gatherings” as declared by the Kaduna police command in its statement, is clear 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”.
While rejecting attempts to drag it into criminality, the party stressed that it remains committed to peaceful, issue-based politics.
“Democracy is not a crime. Selective policing is. Still, we in the ADC will not be intimidated into silence. We also call on all citizens to reject the growing acts of violence and intimidation against opposition parties by the ruling APC at all levels”.
