The Ahmed Makarfi led Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has accused the All Progressives Congress, APC led federal government of running a Gestapo state.
It said the country is fast drifting into a dictatorship and possible anarchy under the present administration.
A statement on Thursday by the spokesman of the Makarfi camp, Dayo Adyeye complained that prominent individuals that held public office in the last administration are being arrested and detained indefinitely without trial.
“For instance, the former Governor of Benue, Gabriel Suswam was arrested by men of the Directorate of State Services (DSS) and has been in detention for over two months now without trial.
“Also, the former Governor of Niger, Babangida Aliyu was arrested on April 5, 2017 by officers of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) and like the others, he has been in detention and yet no case has been filed against him in any court by the anti-graft agency.
“Former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki has been in custody for about two years now without trial. Similar brutality, arrest and mindless detention went on with other PDP leaders and members that were arrested by either the DSS or the EFCC”, the statement said.
The Makarfi PDP faction also lamented what it described as media trial and conviction of opposition elements before they are proven innocent or otherwise by the courts.
“It is also very clear in the Constitution of Nigeria that no security agency has the right or power to detain suspects more than 48 hours without trial.
“Ironically, while former leaders and members of the PDP are being arrested indiscriminately and detained without trial, other former office holders of the ruling APC who have been accused of various corrupt practices are yet to be arrested. Instead, they are compensated with juicy ministerial appointments -double standards.
“We are in a constitutional democracy and as such, the present APC administration must lead by example and obey court orders. It is on record that most of these suspects have been granted bail by the courts of the land and the ECOWAS Court in the case of Dasuki. This is sheer lawlessness!
“We wish to further assure the public that the PDP is not against the anti-corruption fight. Our stand is that the present APC government must follow due process in dealing with issues of corruption as the PDP did during its governments without violating human rights of citizens, especially those suspects that may later be found innocent by the law court”.
Makarfi accused the Buhari administration of injustice and vendetta and called on the government to charge all those in detention to court adding that those granted bail by the courts must be freed immediately.
The party vowed to deploy all constitutional means both domestic and international to seek redress against what it described as Gestapo rule.
It reminded the administration that the country is under a democracy and that Nigerians are fed up with undemocratic rule.
“We advise this government to stop forthwith; all actions that tend to heat up the system and push citizens into taking extreme measures in self defence.
“The economic hardship brought upon Nigerians by APC misrule is bad enough, abridging the people’s rights on top of that is like adding salt to injury”, the statement added.
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