The lawmaker representing Wukari/Ibi federal constituency in the house of representative, Hon. Danjuma Shiddi (Danji SS), on Friday, decried the abuse of rule of law by the Taraba state governor Darius Ishaku against APC members in the State.
Shiddi who is also the senatorial candidate of all Progressives Congress APC for Taraba south in the February 2023 election, called on the governor to be a respecter of law as he was the custodian of law.
In a press statement issued to Journalists by the Danjuma Shiddi senatorial campaign council, the lawmaker alleged continuous harassment and detention of APC members in the state on the order of governor Darius Ishaku.
“We want to affirm my conviction and respect for the rule of law and the Courts, and cherish the grand norm that establishes the Court and vests it with the jurisdiction on legal disputes. In exercising my right to freedom of speech, I wish to express my reservation about the path of dishonour, disobedience to the rule of law and anarchy taken by Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku and his cohorts, and to draw the attention of the Taraba and Nigerian public and the international community to what is in totality grave illegality by Governor Darius and his lieutenants in harassing, hunting and hounding of the members of the All Progressive Congress especially those aligned with Honourable Danjuma Usman Shiddi and Senator Emmanuel Bwacha, both contesting for Taraba South senatorial seat and Taraba Governorship respectively, under the platform of the All Progressives Congress.
“We have observed that the continuous arrests, hounding and harassment of our members in the most barbaric and condemnable manner even when they are on bail or sureties for persons on bail, ostensibly at the instance of Governor Ishaku and his cohorts leave much to be imagined. This press statement is necessary for the face of overwhelming evidence of arrests, hounding and harassment of our members and thus, that raises fundamental questions on Governor Darius’ eligibility for public office and international travels or engagements, and for a display of such questionable social behaviour by the governor the international community should take seriously.
“This behaviour is evident in his plots, intrigues and conspiracies with a section of the Taraba Judiciary which heralded these recent waves of arrests and incarceration of our members and teeming supporters against all known democratic cultures or rules. We are worried about Governor Darius’ and his cohorts’ several other obvious gross misconducts and nasty violations of not only the sacred norms of the Nigerian constitution but also the agelong values of peace, unity and respect for human rights held in the highest esteem by Taraba people.
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“As we speak and for several months running, some members of the All Progressive Congress in Taraba State have been locked up and gagged by the governor, thus, preventing them from freely moving, expressing their views without fear of intimidation, associating and pursuing legitimate businesses, while those who dared are surrounded by armed policemen and armed thugs, while the streets have been taken over by miscreants who literally live inside the streets with their cudgels and hemp.
“As of today, Hon. Yakubu Samaila Young JP is still in remand at the instance of Governor Darius Ishaku who ensured that his bail conditions are not only stringent but draconian too, a practice strange to our legal jurisprudence as one wonders if grant of bail should now be used as a means of punishing the Defendant before the determination of the matter.
“A few months ago, we woke up to witness the shameful arrest and eventual unlawful detention of Isa Ma’aji Shekarau Masa-Ibi a.k.a Isa Ma’aji the Wukari Local Government Coordinator of Danjuma Usman Shiddi Campaign Council, Hon. Danladi Jibatswen Zozo, Chairman All Progressives Congress, Wukari Local Government and Mr. Meshack Dan-Azumi, the Senator Emmanuel Bwacha Campaign Council Wukari Local Government Area Coordinator in a bid to silent Honourable Danjuma Usman Shiddi and Senator Emmanuel Bwacha.
“These persons remained in detention until we painstakingly secured their bail. The trio were arrested on the allegation of exercising their legitimate duty of drawing the attention of the security agencies to a potential breach of law and order via a petition. This we see as an attack targeted at obliterating every trace of the APC in Taraba State.
“We wish to call on the local and international community to act fast to stop the governor and his cohorts from unleashing total mayhem on members of the All Progressives Congress and innocent Tarabans.
“Yesterday again, we woke up to a shameful arrest and remand of Alh. Gambo Hashimu the Deputy Director-General of the Hon. Danjuma Usman Shiddi the Southern Taraba Senate Campaign Council, and Hon Abdullahi Shuaibu APC stalwart at Zing correctional center stood surety for the aforementioned persons. We fear that if those whose responsibility is to protect and uphold justice under Governor Ishaku’s administration fail to do so, their decision to affirm his authority albeit unlawfully on our silent but grieving people will continue to attract public disdain and outrage.
“As things stand in Taraba State today there is no democracy as prescribed by the nation’s constitution. Nearly everyone who dares to oppose the administration is being muzzled on the order of the governor,” The lawmaker decried.
