By Aaron Ossai
Men of the Nigerian Police yesterday foiled alleged grand plots by some suspected hired hoodlums to truncate the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Abuja.
Reports had it trouble started when 15 armed men suspected to be thugs who were dressed in black outfits stormed Merit House located at Maitama District of Abuja, the venue of the NEC meeting and physically molested some of the National and State officials as well as other party officials in charge of logistics.
According to the report, after the conclusion of the first phase of the meeting presided over by SDP Acting Chairman, Chief Supo Shonibare, the suspected thugs stormed the venue and disrupted the meeting.
Amidst the confusion, Chief Supo Shonibare and other Party Leaders were led out by a contingent of Policemen, who were invited to prevent a breakdown of law and order.
Worried by the development, Chief Shonibare thereafter lodged a complaint at the FCT Police Command headquarters.
While addressing NEC members after normalcy was restored, Chief Shonibare who dismissed the orchestrated misinformation being circulated by the promoters of the fake news on his alleged arrest by the Nigeria Police, said: “It looks as if people are now attempting to usurp the leadership of SDP are now resulting to violence. And that has never been our practice in SDP.”
“They are resorting to telling lies, they ignored the court process, so our only option now is to actually report what is happening to our Lawyers, that after we have made our deliberations about the event that is forthcoming, which we should presume we’ve all accepted the recommendations of the National Working Committee deliberations for congresses, we will continue to do that.
“We will also seek legal redress for those who were injured when the meeting was invaded.
“So, I thank of all of you for coming from various parts of the country, from the East and West and I know that some of you have taken part in the earlier deliberations have never left us but it’s important that we have met as National Exco and we have approved all the programmes of the party, state congresses and national convention. So I thank you all and also we will continue to be in touch with you on the development in the Party”, he told parifaithful.
He assured that the outcome of the NEC meeting would be referred to relevant authorities – Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) among others.
He also applauded the authorities of the Nigeria Police for deploying the personnel to the venue of the NEC meeting since 8am, saying: “We thank the Police for their actions in ensuring that peace is maintained in Abuja.”
