by Ranti Joseph

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has asked the police in the Birniwa council area of Jigawa State to stop the incessant harassment and intimidation of its members in the area, saying the police is a national institution that should always be neutral and non-partisan.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the DPO of Birniwa, DSP Sale M. Abdulhamid, has recently clamped down on APC members and supporters in the area, putting at least two of their leaders in detention.

It said APC Secretary Umar Bappa and an elder of the party, Alhaji Rabiu Hamza, have been detained now for over 48 hours without any charges being brought against them, in violation of the law.

”The DPO has also stopped APC from campaigning on the grounds that the party did not obtain permits, while he has requested that the APC should remove all its posters and banners from the streets. This is not right,” APC said.

The party called on the Inspector-General of Police to call the DPO to order and to impress it upon him that as an officer of the law, he cannot continue to engage in brazen lawlessness, as he has been doing.

”If the DPO feels beholden to the PDP or any other party, he is free to shed his uniform, resign from the police and join any party of his choice. Until then, he is wrong to favour one party over another. He should stop disgracing the police,” it said

Janeth J