The All Progressives Congress, APC, has described as “despicable and barbaric,” the removal of its party posters and billboards in Gombe State allegedly on the orders of the state governor, Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo.
It was reported that during his visit to Kashere, the hometown of Danjuma Goje, a serving Senator and political rival on Thursday, Dankwambo ordered the removal of all APC billboards and posters in the town.
He was also reported to have ordered the police and army officers in his convoy to break into Goje’s family residence where doors were destroyed before his relations, including children were allegedly teargassed and arrested by the security.
In a statement issued on Saturday in Lagos State, Lai Mahammed, APC national publicity secretary, described the development as an act of “intolerance” by Gombe State governor who has been working hard to obliterate the APC presence and also victimize members of the party in the state.
“The Governor also ordered the same security forces to break into the family house of Senator Goje’s wife, where they similarly destroyed doors and teargassed the occupants, including the 90-year-old father of Senator Goje’s wife and the Senator’s wife’s 70-year-old stepmother, while all her sisters and brothers were arrested,” the spokesman said.
In the statement Mohammed further claimed that all of those arrested numbering over 50, during the raid are now being detained at the police headquarters in Gombe, the state capital, while the “Governor has also ordered the arrest of anyone who tries to secure bail for those in detention.”
“In Gombe town, the Governor has gone further to order the police to remove all APC billboards and posters in the town. In other words, as far as the Governor is concerned, it is a criminal offence for anyone to belong to the APC in his state.
”This is intolerance of the highest order and negates the tenets of democracy. It is important for the Governor’s party, the PDP, which has been professing political tolerance, to call the emerging little dictator to order before he destroys the state in a fit of primeval rage,” Mohammed added.
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