The African Democratic Congress has criticised the Kaduna State Police Command for its handling of a violent incident that disrupted the party’s inauguration event in Kaduna over the weekend.
In a strongly worded statement on Sunday by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC accused the police of failing to protect party members who were attacked by armed thugs and attempting to unjustly criminalise legitimate political activities.
The party also faulted Police’s press release, which they described as a “troubling attempt to pre-judge individuals and cast the opposition as lawless.”
The statement read, “When the Kaduna State Police Command issued its press release on the unfortunate disruption of the ADC meeting in Kaduna State, where our party leaders and members were attacked by armed thugs, we expected reassurance that justice would be done and that those responsible for the violence would be held to account.
“Instead, what we read was a troubling attempt to criminalise legitimate political activity, pre-judge individuals, and cast the opposition in the light of lawlessness.
ADC argued that the police’s claim of the gathering being “unauthorised” is baseless, asserting that the constitutional right to peaceful assembly supersedes any procedural notification to security agencies.
“In a democracy, the right to assemble peacefully is guaranteed by the Constitution, not a State Police Command,” the statement emphasised.
The party further condemned the police’s threat to hold hotels and event centers liable for hosting political meetings without approval, labeling it an intimidation tactic that undermines democratic freedoms.
ADC also challenged the Kaduna police’s blanket suspension of “unauthorized gatherings,” calling it an overreach of authority that hands security agencies veto power over democracy itself.
“In this regard, the ADC rejects all attempts by the Kaduna State Police Command to drag our name into acts of violence that we neither organized nor condone. Our party remains committed to peaceful, issue-based politics,” the statement said.
“We therefore demand that the Kaduna State Police Command immediately revisit its statement, conduct a transparent investigation, and explain why its officers allegedly abandoned their duty when our leaders and members came under attack.”
“Democracy is not a crime. Selective policing is. Still, we in the ADC will not be intimidated into silence. We also call on all citizens to reject the growing acts of violence and intimidation against opposition parties by the ruling APC at all levels.”
