The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, chapter in Kwara State has condemned reported police intimidation and harassment of party supporters.
The party asked the state’s security authorities to create a fair playing field for all residents to exercise their franchise freely and without interference.
At the 2016 Presidential and National Assembly elections, the PDP especially complained about suspected voter intimidation in polling units 031 and 032 Ode Ishowo Koro Sayodun axis of Alanamu Ward in the state’s Ilorin West Local Government Area.
Lawal Akanbi Sharafadeen, Director of Communications for the Kwara State PDP Campaign Committee, attracted the Inspector General’s attention to the matter in Ilorin on Sunday.
Usman Alkali Baba, the General of Police, has responded to the situation.
He claimed that seven innocent accredited voters have been victims of the unfortunate occurrence as a result of phone calls and text messages instructing them to report to the state police headquarters in Ilorin on trumped-up allegations that they disrupted the previous elections in the said polling units.
According to the party’s communications director, the purported phone numbers used by the police for this reason are 07060997736 and 09139168136.
He revealed the names of persons who have been repeatedly intimidated by police officers, including Haleemah Yakub, Abdulrasheed Na’allah, Abdulgafar Seriki, Taiye Yakubu, and Hakeem Yusuf Nallah.
The Campaign Council noted that the action may not be unconnected to the defeat suffered by the ruling All Progressives Congress State Secretary, Mustapha Ishowo, who is from the community and voted therein.
Lawal, however, urged the voters at the said polling units not to be intimidated by the ugly development.
