At least 20 masked men, suspected to be policemen disrupted a Labour Party meeting in Abia State on Saturday.
Five of the intruders approached the high table after ordering the members to remain silent and informed the secretary of the Labour Party’s local government election committee, Prince G.O. Ndubueze, that he was under arrest.
However, the party members resisted, insisting that the masked men had not presented a warrant for his arrest.
In protest of the police action, more than 500 party members marched alongside Ndubueze to the Aba Area police command.
According to the Vanguard, Ndubueze declared he would not succumb to intimidation from Governor Alex Otti, whom he accused of trying to impose chairmanship and councillorship candidates for the November 2 local government election.
“I haven’t received any arrest warrant,” he stated. “I can’t even confirm if they are actual policemen, but as a law-abiding citizen, I will go with them. However, I will never yield to intimidation from Gov. Alex Otti. We will not allow him to impose candidates in this local government election.
“This is a governor who came to power through legitimate means but now seeks to impose candidates. The Labour Party in Abia State will not tolerate this imposition.”