Former Senate President Bukola Saraki has called on the police to release the publicity secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ebonyi State, Chika Nwoba, who was arrested in January.
Nwoba was arraigned before a Magistrate Court in Abakaliki for allegedly publishing false information on social media. He has remained in police custody since then.
While describing the arrest carried out by the state security group called Ebube Agwu before the intervention of the police as “an assault on the country’s democracy,” Saraki in a statement by his media office released on Friday stated that a situation where a citizen was suddenly seized and beaten to stupor before being detained by the police for several weeks does not speak well for the nation’s democracy.
“The remand in police cell of Mr Nwoba, the PDP Publicity Secretary in Ebonyi State, is of great concern for me as a person who loves Nigeria and above all as someone who loves justice. It is really disappointing that injustice has transcended every facet of our country,” he said.
“The gentleman deserves the right to fair hearing under the law. He has been controversially remanded for more than a month after being arrested under a situation which started like he was being kidnapped.”
Saraki symphatised with Nwoba’s wife and children over the incident.
“This act of injustice being promoted and foisted by those in power in Ebonyi State is nothing but an assault on our democracy and our collective freedom as citizens of this country because an injury to one is an injury to all. This is a time for every well-meaning Nigerian and most especially the leaders of our party, the PDP, to stand up and Stand with one of our own,” the former Kwara governor added.
