Anambra PDP gives police 7-day ultimatum

Anambra State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday issued a seven-day ultimatum to the state police command to pay it N334.95 Million as damages for allegedly disrupting its planned democracy day rally in Awka yesterday.

Though the party had on May 24, 2012 applied to the Anambra State commissioner of police for security at its state headquarters for the democracy day rally, which took place yesterday, the state deputy commissioner of police, Mr. Agyole Abeh, in a reply dated May 28, 2012 urged the party to postpone the rally to a later date in view of what he called ‘security situation’.

But in a letter addressed to the CP yesterday, the state chairman of PDP, Prince Kenneth Emeakayi, said the cancellation of the rally was belated, arguing that by the time the reply for security came to PDP office by 6.00 pm on Monday, after every arrangement for the rally had been completed.
According to him, the party had already spent N8.95 million for buses that conveyed party members from the 326 political wards in the state and also paid for food, drinks, canopies, seats, music, hotel accommodation, dance troupes, among others, asking police to refund the money to the party.
He also demanded that the police should pay N1 million to each of the 326 political wards in the state as a compensation for wasting the precious time of the people who trouped to Awka for the rally, only to be dispersed by stern –looking policemen.

Emeakayi demanded for a letter of apology from the police to be published in two national newspapers in Nigeria, threatening that if the police failed to meet the demands within seven days, the party would have no other option than to seek redress in a law court.

The chairman said: “I have no doubt in my mind that the CP of the Anambra State command who, himself is aware of our fundamental rights to peaceful assembly, free participation in the government of our country and belonging to any political party of our choice as guaranteed by the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the African Charter on human and people’s rights, should understand that by 6.00 pm on May 28, 2012, all arrangements concerning the preparations for the rally scheduled for 9.00 am on May 29, 2012, must have been concluded.

Most of our invited guests had already arrived from outside the state before the receipt of the letter from the CP’s office informing us of the postponement by the police of our lawful and willful assembly.”