Friday September 05, 2025
By TheNewsDESK |
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has expressed grave concern over the increasing use of sponsored thugs and police personnel to attack, harass and intimidate opposition chieftains in Kaduna and Kebbi states.
The party noted that its members are being harassed and intimidated by law enforcement agencies, while violent criminal elements continue to attack communities across the country.
In a statement by the spokesman of the ADC, Bolaji Abdullahi, the party cited recent attacks on a former Attorney General and Justice Minister, Abubakar Malami and a former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai.
The Whistler had earlier reported how Malami’s convoy was on Monday, attacked in Birnin Kebbi by armed thugs while he was on a condolence visit to a bereaved family.
El-Rufai and other ADC chieftains were similarly attacked by armed thugs in Kaduna during the week.
The party spokesman described
the attacks as an assault, not just on individual politicians, but also, on Nigeria’s democracy itself.
The Kaduna police had followed up by sealing off ADC offices in Kaduna and summoning El-Rufai and other ADC leaders to submit themselves for interrogation.
But the party condemned the police summons, dismissing it as politically motivated and a ploy to further intimidate its leaders.
“The Nigeria Police Force has seemingly become a willing tool of political suppression for the federal government rather than a national security department, that is truly focused on rooting out bandits and other criminals across the country.
“At a time when terrorists and criminal gangs freely operate in large parts of the North, the Nigerian Police appears more interested in silencing opposition leaders than protecting citizens.
“After the recent attack in Kaduna, where the former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai and other ADC leaders were attacked; in Kebbi, the convoy of former Minister for Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN) was violently attacked in broad daylight around the GRA area of Birnin Kebbi—barely meters from a police outpost.
“Despite the seriousness of the attack, no arrests have been made, and the perpetrators remain at large.”
