February 18, (THEWILL) – Over ten support groups of the Peoples Democratic Party in Cross River State have appealed to President Mohammadu Buhari, to redeploy the state Deputy Commissioner Of Police, Operations, Francis Idu.
The groups made the plea in Calabar while speaking on the rising tension, gradually building up in the state ahead of next week’s general elections.
Some of the support groups include Reclaim Cross River, Health Professionals For Sandy, Elites For Sandy, Atiku Youths, PDP Angels, Stronger Together and Advocacy For True Democracy.
Others are Mandated Mandate, Aso World Wide For Sandy, Caterpillar Ladies and the National Association for the advancement of Cross River People.
Speaking on behalf of the groups, Dorn Cklaimz Enamhe, the national president of the National Association for the advancement of Cross River People, said the DCP Operations actions shows he does not respect his oath of office.
In his words, “We call on President Buhari, who is the number one security officer of the country to look at the case of Cross River State and ask the Inspector General of Police, to redeploy Deputy Commissioner Of Police Operations Francis Idu with immediate effect.
“His actions and inactions at all times has shown clearly that he does not respect the oath he took as a police officer.
“We have very serious information that some people are sponsoring some security personnel to disarm voters who are supposed to vote by all means.
“We have done a background check on this character and he is the one that was deployed during the last by elections in Ogoja-Yala and we know the things he did”, he said.
He added that 2023 is a different year in this country and people must be guided properly.
He added that the police and other security agencies should not be used to arrest and harass members of the PDP with the aim of making voters scared of voting.
Similarly, the state chairman of the Inter Party Advisory Council, Comrade Anthony Bissong, had some days ago also called for the redeployment of the said state’s DCP Operations.
IPAC alleged that Francis Idu’s redeployment is imperative because of “public perception of his ignoble role in the state police command given the poor handling of the unit under his leadership.”
He said the state cannot afford the risk of keeping the DCP Operations in the state during elections.
THEWILL Correspondent, Aniekan Bassey has over six years experience that spans across several fields in print journalism including development communication, sexual reproductive and health rights issues, crime, climate change, social justice, business and human interest stories.
