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Operation Crush: Otti turning Abia to crime scene – group *Says, gov must allow residents breathe
“How could you sack thousands of civil servants, unnecessarily delay or stop the salaries of many more, disband revenue collectors and hundreds of able-bodied park managers/minders etc without any alternative or even palliative measures to alleviate their now horrendous conditions?”
This was the argument with which Abia Renaissance Movement (ARM), pushed back against the launch of Operation Crush, a new security outfit in the state, by Abia State Governor, Alex Otti on Tuesday, while warning that the move was not only impulsive, but capable of creating more problems in the state.
Railing against the initiative, which was launched at the Michael Okpara auditorium complex in Umuahia, the state capital, the group, in a statement, signed by by its Convener, Ukachukwu Chinonso and Secretary-General, Maria Nwokoma, described it as one of “Alex Otti’s many show-offs which have pushed the state to the brink of total collapse.”
The group: “In forming Operation Crush, Otti has admitted our earlier cries that his draconian policies were frustrating Abians and pushing a number of them into crime. While Operation Crush would have been desirable, such security outfits are fit for only states that have been overrun by terrorists and bandits, and not one that Alex Otti, through his ill-advised policies, has turned to a den of armed robbers and kidnappers, crimes that are still within the purview of the police and the DSS to deal with.
“We view Operation Crush as the unnecessary militarisation of our state which only recently was adjudged one of the most peaceful and secure states in Nigeria. That was before Alex Otti assumed office. But since his assumption of office, things have gone southwards and Otti has himself to blame for this.
“We reiterate our stand, that unless Otti wishes to use the new security outfit to achieve sinister purposes of going after his political opponents, a trait he has brazenly demonstrated in his time in office, he should disband the new security outfit immediately and fashion out a more robust, friendlier and community-based policing system that will stamp out crime and criminality in our dear state without instilling fears in our already traumatised citizens.
“While we deeply appreciate the great works our soldiers have been doing in protecting our territorial integrity from aggressors and the immeasurable sacrifices they have been making in stamping out terrorism and banditry in parts of the country where they exist, we wish to state that perpetually saturating our streets with their presence will be counter-productive.
“We also observed during the launch of Operation Crush that one more out of Alex Otti’s many promises to the people has been flagrantly discarded. In the early days of his assumption of office, Otti made a show of using Innoson Motors for his inauguration parade and as one of his official cars, and promised to patronise locally made items to promote our local entrepreneurs.
“We are therefore dismayed that the cars Mr Alex Otti purchased for the new security outfit are all of a foreign brand. This is just one practical example of how the governor has been ruling Abia by impulse instead of following his own promises to the people. It is just another instance of our earlier description of this government as that of propaganda, half-truths, outright lies, vendetta, vindictivenes, fake and failed promises.
“How will our people get jobs, how will they prosper when their government patronises foreign brands instead of quality locally made goods? It is on this basis that we charge Mr Alex Otti to quit his grandstanding and put policies in place that will ensure that all those arbitrarily disengaged from their legitimate sources of livelihood by his government have their debilitating conditions alleviated.
“The abandonment of governance in pursuit of perceived political opponents is a distraction that has left the state gasping for breath. As it is, Abians can no longer breathe, crushing them with Operation Crush when there could have been a more robust, elaborate and effective security strategy to curtail the rising wave of crime in the state is too much showboating from a government that has already won for itself the reputation of being the most listless in the history of Abia State.”
Peter Obi, candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has given assignment to Nigerians to put all those aspiring to take up political positions in the country through the grill to ascertain their level of integrity, saying it was required as a sine qua non for the job they seek.
Obi, who has been a subject of discussion in the polity since the allegation of corruption was levied against him by Kenneth Okonkwo, spokesman of his campaign in 2023, over the conduct of the party’s primaries to choose candidates for the 2027 general elections, said the grilling must start with his own person.
A guest in an interview on a podcast with Rufai Oseni, a popular television anchor, the former Governor of Anambra State, stated that it was actually for this reason that he had now sworn to see the litigation he instituted against Okonkwo through.
His take is that the Nollywood actor should use the courtrooms to give all the details of bad behaviour, following his threat to expose him fully, after alleging that he was collecting money from aspirants in the said election for electoral favours.
Hear him: “The issue of taking Kenneth Okonkwo to court wouldn’t have arisen if he had stopped at those allegations. But he claimed he still has more he would expose about me in the future. So, I am very happy to take him to court so that he can expose me publicly, alongside other Nigerians. If any of them has any criminal allegations against me, they should bring them to court.
“Not just Kenneth, everybody should now say those things they know that is bad about me or I did that is wrong because it’s good for the system, it’s good for the society,” Obi said.
“So, if you know that when we were in primary school, this man was cheating or didn’t go to the primary school, didn’t go to secondary school, didn’t do, if you know this man has done something criminal somewhere, this is time to bring it up.”
For the umpteenth time, Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has warned about the dangerous implication of using state institutions, particularly the judiciary to destroy Nigeria’s democracy, saying it is an ill-wind that blows nobody any good.
Atiku, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), speaking on the heels of Tuesday’s verdict of the Court of Appeal, halting the de-registration order by the Federal High Court, insisted that judicial officers must not lend themselves to any act capable of undermining the nation’s democratic process.
The appellate court had ordered a stay of execution on the order made on Monday by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court Abuja, for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the ADC alongside four other political parties).
A totally scandalised Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja, had taken umbrage, sparing no hard words in upbraiding the lower court judge, stating that his likes were unfit to sit on the bench.
In a unanimous ruling by a three-man panel, the court held that Lifu’s action was “the highest form of judicial impertinence”, stressing that the Supreme Court previously held that a judge who acted in such a manner.
Describing his conduct as the height of judicial rascality, the upper court, stated: “Courts are enjoined to protect their integrity. This Court has supervisory authority over the trial court.
“The decision of the lower court to proceed with the judgment despite the express order of this court is a brazen violation of the hierarchy of the court and the 1999 Constitution.
This court has the duty to invoke its powers in ensuring that its orders are obeyed. The application for a stay of execution is here yet granted. The enforcement of the judgment is stayed.”
Atiku, who hailed the position of the higher court, which restored his hope to be on the ballot as presidential candidate in the 2027 election, also noted the role of INEC as “significant.”
He said: “I welcome the Court of Appeal’s decision to stay the execution of the Federal High Court judgement seeking the deregistration of our great party, the ADC, and four other political parties. It is particularly significant that INEC itself initiated the application for the stay.
“The development reflects growing public concern over judicial contradictions and politically charged rulings within the judiciary. “Any attempt to undermine Nigeria’s hard-won democracy through judicial manipulation is a grave danger to the Republic. If our democracy suffers further injury, history will demand accountability from those entrusted with dispensing justice.
Outside ADC, Lifu’s order, also included: Action Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), similarly slammed for allegedly failing to meet the constitutional requirements for continued registration and participation in elections.
“He is running in contempt of the court. Justice Lifu should be arrested because he is acting in contempt of the court which is a criminal act,” were the exact words with which the African Democratic Congress (ADC), demonstrated its angst over the court ruling on Monday, ordering its de-registration as a political party in Nigeria.
A furious Bolaji Abdullahi, spokesman of the party, told his host while appearing as a guest on Monday’s edition of Politics Today, a public affairs programme on Channels Television that the judge of the Abuja Federal High Court who gave the order was actually playing with fire because of the consequences.
Directly accusing him of playing the script of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to ensure that President Bola Tinubu emerged the sole candidate for the 2027 presidential election, the party spokesman, was emphatic that the plan would not work, as head or tail, ADC must be on the ballot in all the elections.
Hear him: “There is a Court of Appeal order saying don’t hear this case until October 27. So, on what basis? You can’t place something on nothing. The Court of Appeal said don’t act on this until I hear it on October 27. So, on what basis did he deliver the judgement
“So, for us in the African Democratic Congress, what we’re convinced and they know is what they have done has no leg to stand on legally. What they want to do is to create doubts in the minds of the people that this ADC has too many legal cases, can we actually run on this? And to distract us. But we’re not distracted.
“We’re very clear. It was in spite of all they have done since ADC came on board that we ran one of the best and one of the most comprehensive direct primaries in the history of democracy in Nigeria. So, we are strong enough to withstand this. And that’s why I’m saying that we are going to contest in 2027. We’re ADC. We don’t buckle before dictatorship.”
Stressing on the implication of the judgement, which also affected Accord Party (AP), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) for allegedly failing to meet constitutional and electoral performance requirements, following a suit by the National Forum of Former Legislators, he said it portended grave danger.
He added: “We are not surprised. We know that the Nigerian people believe that there is a problem with the judiciary, but what we did not expect is the level of judicial rascality that was demonstrated today.
“What we are saying is that we reject it in its totality, and we are saying that the people behind this are playing with fire. Hundreds, if not thousands, have obtained nomination forms and contested elections and emerged as candidates on the platform of the ADC.”
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