Cross River Guber Poll: PDP urges security agencies to remain neutral
From Aniekan Aniekan, Calabar
The Deputy Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) , Emana Duke Amahwe has urged security agencies in the state to remain neutral.
She made the call at the Ernest Etim Bassey Press Centre while reacting to the alleged intimidation of PDP supporters and the planned deployment of the Police Rapid Response Squad for the elections.
The deputy governorship candidate stressed that residents of the state, like every Nigerian, have right to choose who their governor should be.
“If the APC feels it is popular enough in Cross River to get votes, then it should understand that it is only normal for people to be allowed to exercise their franchise during the election
“We have cases in Calabar where traditional rulers are compelled to go round communities with town criers threatening individuals to vote a particular candidate or they will be dealt if they fail to do so,”
Emana urged the international community and residents of Cross River to speak out against what she described as abnormally.
Also speaking, a former deputy governor of the state Efiok Cobham stated that the party is aware of secret plan by the Police to use special squad to militarise and intimidate the PDP where it has a stronghold particularly in Cross River North Senatorial district of the state.
Cobham averred that this would not have bothered them stressing that signal shows that the police personnel drafted to the area had been ordered to engage in “domination patrols, stop and search and carryout aggressive arrests where necessary.
“We frown at such development and ask in very strong terms that Gov. Ben Ayade and the APC desist from such action because election is not war”, he said.
But in reaction to this allegation, the Cross River State Police Public Relations Officer Police PPRO SP Irene Ugbo averred that the police would not so anything stupid to disrupt or compromise the elections adding that all what the police is after is the peace and order during and after elections.
