HURIWA Slams Nigerian Police Over Partisan Role In PDP Leadership Crisis

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has berated the Nigerian Police over the method used in handling the leadership crisis within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the national and state levels.

Speaking via a statement by its National Coordinator Emmanuel Onwubiko on Friday, the Association accused the security agents of acting as a tool to destabilize the opposition.

HURIWA pointed out two instances of police complicity that highlight the erosion of professionalism within the force.

It stated that the illegal occupation of the PDP National Secretariat by former National Secretary Samuel Anyanwu, who was validly removed by the Court of Appeal, which the police have not done anything with regards to enforcement is a pointer to the force’s glaring complicity.

The group affirmed that despite this judicial pronouncement, Anyanwu has defiantly occupied the office, allegedly backed by influential figures, while the police have failed to enforce the court’s decision.

HURIWA also gave another instance of the police actively barricading the Rivers PDP secretariat following a High Court judgment that dissolved the Nyesom Wike-led faction of the party leadership.

It stressed that the action of the police has prevented Governor Siminalayi Fubara, who was declared the rightful party leader, from reorganizing the party to avoid a vacuum.

The statement read in part, “The police have demonstrated blatant double standards by failing to uphold the law uniformly. On one hand, they turned a blind eye to Anyanwu’s occupation of the PDP National Secretariat in Abuja despite a valid court judgment removing him.

“On the other hand, they obstruct the implementation of a Rivers State High Court ruling that dissolved Wike’s faction of the PDP in the state.

“This selective enforcement of justice undermines the integrity of the police and casts doubt on their neutrality,”