The Labour Party‘s Peter Obi, who is running for president, and the LP caucus in the House of Representatives have expressed disapproval of the way Julius Abure, the party’s national chairman, was detained in Edo State, calling it “distasteful, cruel, dehumanising and abuse of democratic ethos.”
Abure was freed on bond at around two in the morning on Thursday after being taken into custody in Benin on Wednesday by agents from the Zone 5 police headquarters.
Speaking on Thursday upon his release, Abure connected his apprehension to the effort that LP was making to free the nation.
Abure stated, “They have been attempting to create divisions within the party and level unfounded charges against us since the general elections.
When they realized that using forgeries to harm us wouldn’t work, they came up with embezzlement. Those who feel wronged by the party go and encourage others to sign a petition against us. And the irony is that after acting on them, the police eventually find out that they were untrue.
He claimed that even though the police had freed him on bond, Kelly Ogbaloi, the Labour Party’s chairman for Edo State, and the youth leader remained in custody.
Reacting through his official X account, Obi said that he was disturbed by Abure’s arrest and that the people in charge of maintaining the law were the ones who were violating it.
“Like many Nigerians, I watched the vile national television news reports detailing the humiliating arrest of Barrister Julius Abure, the National Chairman of the Labour Party, earlier today in Benin City, Edo State,” he stated.
“I stand by my position on this issue, but it doesn’t justify seeing the upsetting photo of our national chairman lying down in the hopes of being taken into custody. Any reasonable person with a civilized mind would denounce this act, which is undesired, degrading, and absolutely intolerable in the context of Nigeria’s current civic environment.
Additionally, in a statement released on Thursday by its leader, Victor Ogene, the LP caucus in the House of Representatives characterized Abure’s arrest as harsh, dehumanizing, and a violation of democratic principles.
They demanded that Kayode Egbetokun, the Inspector General of Police, look into the underlying problems “that have put the police in a bad light.”
“There is no justification for the way the police handled the LP National Chairman’s ill-timed and deceptive arrest. The lawmakers stated that a straightforward invitation would have been sufficient if the police had needed to bring Abure in at all.
Follow for more on www.instagram.com/findwhosabi_/