Political thuggery everywhere as 2019 approaches

There are strong signals that the task of providing an atmosphere that is conducive for the conduct of free, fair and peaceful elections in 2019 would be a daunting one. Against the backdrop of violence recorded during the recent ward congresses of the Al

Penultimate Saturday, when the All Progressives Congress held its nationwide congresses to elect new executives, there was a dangerous specter of violence perpetrated by political thugs. As leaders of the party across the country mobilised members to ensure that their loyalists were elected, there was stiff resistance from politicians who belong to opposing camps within the party.

For instance, the ward congresses in Rivers State took a violent turn when thugs invaded the party secretariat in Port Harcourt, destroying properties.The youths accused the party leadership of hijacking materials for the congress to influence the outcome of the exercise.

They were alleged to be supporters of Senator Magnus Abe, who in recent times, had openly criticised his party, the APC under the leadership of former governor and present minister of transportation, Chibuike Amaechi.

Similarly, the governorship primary of the APC in Ekiti State ended in chaos, after angry party members and thugs hijacked and smashed ballot boxes on the pitch of Oluyemi Kayode Stadium, Ado- Ekiti, venue Daily Trust on Sunday of the election.

The disruption took place after delegates from five of the 16 councils in the state, Ado, Moba, Ilejemeje, Ekiti East and Efon, had voted. Sachets of water were said to have been freely thrown at aspirants as the thugs rained abuses on one of the aspirants.

Only recently, the Senate also came under attack by certain persons branded as hoodlums, who hijacked and carted away the Mace. The day’s plenary session was ongoing when the said hoodlums, led by Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, invaded the symbol of authority of the Red Chamber.

In February this year, suspected thugs reportedly attacked and disrupted a gathering of the APC in Obudu, Cross River State, where a stalwart of the party, Venatius Ikem, was billed to announce his intention to run for the governorship of the state in 2019.

The thugs, said to be loyalists of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, reportedly vandalised the APC secretariat, which was the venue of the gathering. They also destroyed the party’s billboards, canopies, chairs, and public address system.

Among those wounded during the attack was the chairman of APC in Abi Local Government Area, Romanus Egbonyi. He described the attack as unfair to his party. On Sunday, July 29, 2017, the secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Kaduna State Council came under attack by rampaging political thugs. During the attack, journalists were injured and properties vandalised. The thugs disrupted a press briefing organised by some APC chieftains in the state. They were said to have overpowered policemen at the entrance to the secretariat, where Senators Shehu Sani and Suleiman Hunkuyi kicked against the result of the party’s delegate election.

Wielding dangerous weapons, they reportedly matcheted a Liberty Television cameraman, Lawal Muhammed, damaged several cameras and injured two other reporters. They also broke doors, windows and damaged chairs and tables at the secretariat.

House of Representatives members: Muhamamed Usman, Musa Soba, Alhaji Tijjani Ramalan, Alhaji Yaro Makama, Amb Sule Buba, and a former legislator, Alhaji Isa Ashiru, were among chieftains of the APC chased away by the thugs.

In Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, suspected thugs invaded the state House of Assembly on Tuesday, August 1, 2017 and attacked lawmakers. In the ensuing drama, a member representing Igalamala/Odolu, Elder Friday Makama, was reportedly stripped naked.

As soon as the lawmakers started the day’s plenary, the thugs, numbering over 100, arrived in three Hilux vans and rushed into the chamber and started beating them. Makama, who was billed to formally resume on that day after the court declared his sixmonth suspension void, was severely beaten and stripped naked.

As security personnel attached to the House watched helplessly while the invasion lasted, the Speaker, Imam Umar Ahmed, other lawmakers and security aides attached to the principal officers took to their heels.

In an interview with Professor Rauf Ayoade Dunmoye of the Department of Political Science and International Studies in the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, he said there were many reasons the APC congresses were shrouded in violence.

“Giving the amount of money politicians are getting and the power attached to elected offices, many of them see politics as a do-or-die affair. They see politics as an easy investment opportunity, particularly now that things are hard.

“Again, APC is the ruling party and people are looking for opportunities to get into party offices, largely for material rewards during primaries. Politicians feel that it is when they have their cronies at the party level that they can have their way during different primary elections. The PDP had a similar problem when they were in power.

“Security agencies should be up and doing. The violence is telling them to prepare well and ensure that these crises do not result to anarchy during the 2019 elections. The most important thing is to minimise it to the barest minimum. The security agencies should also look out for assassinations.

“The violence can also reduce when the parties provide atmosphere for credible internal democracy,’’ he said.

Also speaking to Daily Trust on Sunday, the executive director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Auwal Ibrahim Musa Rafsanjani said, “If party congresses are not done in a free and transparent manner, then I am afraid of 2019. This is because it would also be characterised by violence due to the actions of desperate politicians who resort to the use of political thugs.”

While calling for sanctions against politicians who deploy violence to win elections, Rafsanjani said there was the need to mobilise young Nigerians against being tools in the hands of desperate politicians. He also called on political parties to operate strictly within the realm of their rules.

“Incitement of violence must be sanctioned. There must also be respect for party constitution and strict observance of the Electoral Act,” he added. A former member of the House of Representatives, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, secretary-general of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), Chief Willy Ezugwu and the executive director, Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Comrade Ibuchukwu Ohabuenyi Ezike, also observed that using thugs to secure electoral victories was not new in the country.