The Kaduna State Police Command has summoned former Governor Nasir El-Rufai and six senior members of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for questioning over allegations including criminal conspiracy, incitement of public disturbance, mischief, and causing grievous harm.
The invitation, signed by Deputy Commissioner of Police Uzairu Abdullahi and addressed to the ADC State Chairman, directs the individuals to appear before the State Criminal Investigation Department on September 8 to respond to issues raised in a petition filed by unnamed complainants.
Earlier on the same day, security forces sealed the ADC state secretariat in Kaduna, just hours before the scheduled visit of the party’s North-West leadership, which was intended to sympathize with members injured in an attack reportedly carried out by political thugs the previous week.
In response, El-Rufai condemned the closure as unconstitutional, noting that while the Police Commissioner claimed a court order prohibited the meeting, no official documentation had been presented or served to the party.
He emphasized that despite complying out of respect, the action remained unlawful.
The sealing of the ADC office follows recent violence where suspected thugs disrupted an ADC Coalition Transition Committee meeting, injuring several members and causing property damage. Party leaders have accused the police of inaction and even complicity during the attack.
Former Minister of State for Defence and ADC chieftain, Mallam Lawal Batagarawa, described the incident as a coordinated assault and warned of a disturbing trend towards dictatorship and authoritarianism.
The Kaduna State Government has repeatedly accused El-Rufai of trying to destabilize the state, with the Commissioner for Internal Security alleging that the former governor sought to incite unrest after ADC’s electoral setbacks.
In a strong response, the ADC North-West Zone condemned the police actions and questioning summons, viewing them as efforts to suppress opposition voices.
The party has called for a thorough investigation into the attack on its members, accountability for those responsible, and an end to the crackdown on political gatherings.
Batagarawa warned that governments using security forces and violence to silence opposition pose a threat to democracy and vowed resistance against any attempt to impose one-party rule.
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