Our correspondent who went to the Awalah Hotel Bauchi, venue of the meeting reports that the area was condoned off by armed mobile police men. Bauchi State protem chairman of the party Alhaji Mohammed Lawal Isa said: “We wrote a letter to the state commissioner of police and all relevant security operatives in the state since Thursday, September 19, 2013 and asked for permission to hold the meeting. We gave them 48 hours notice as required by law. And on Friday, our executives were invited by the police commissioner. After our discussions with him, he allowed us to hold our consultative meeting. He also pledged to deploy policemen to protect us while warning us not to do anything that could lead to the breach of peace”.
He added: “But when we arrived the venue of the meeting, we met a team of armed mobile policemen led by the commissioner of police. They even cordoned the Awalah Hotel, venue of our meeting. When the police commissioner saw me, he said they received an order from above that the meeting should not hold. When we asked for a reason, they could did not give us any. We are disappointed because we followed all rules and regulations. We are Nigerians and we have a right to meet with our supporters”.
He advised their supporters to be law abiding and wait for further directives.
Effort to get the Bauchi State Commissioner of Police Mohammed Ladan to comment on the incident failed, but the state’s Police Public Relations Officer Haruna Mohammed said, “I am not aware that the New PDP applied to hold a meeting in Bauchi. I am also not aware that police stopped them, but I will enquire about it and get back to you with the necessary information”.
Join Daily Trust WhatsApp Community For Quick Access To News and Happenings Around You.
