Be Vigilant, Makarfi Urges Nigerians

Tobi Soniyi

A former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Caretaker Committee, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, has condemned the raid by personnel of the Nigeria Police on the house of elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clark.

With the 2019 general election drawing nearer, Makarfi called in Nigerians to be vigilant and should not allow the federal government to turn the country into a police state.

In a statement signed by his media assistant, Mr. Mukhtar Sirajo, the PDP presidential aspirant said he considered the assault on a respected national leader, a former federal minister and a nonagenarian, as callous and further evidence of the descent of the country into the abyss of authoritarianism and police state.

According to him, the raid on Clark’s house was clearly an attempt to intimidate and cow as well as stifle contrary opinion in clear violation of the country’s constitution and international conventions, as the 2019 elections approach.

Makarfi said he identified and sympathised with Clark over this assault on his privacy.

He, therefore, called on Nigerians to be vigilant and “resist attempts at constricting our democratic space and fundamental human rights, using agencies of state.

The statement further read: “even though the police authorities have sought to distance themselves from this show of shame, Makarfi urges that they go beyond ordinary disclaimer by instituting a genuine investigation into this with a view to unraveling the sordid act as well as bringing the perpetrators to justice.”