The All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the police of laying siege on the residence of the Director of Media and Publicity of the APC presidential campaign organisation, Shehu Garba.

The party said the action was part of the ongoing harassment and intimidation of the party’s leadership by security agencies.

In a statement issued Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said Garba’s residence at the NNPC Quarters, Area II, Abuja, had been surrounded by armed policemen since 3 a.m. yesterday, making it impossible for him to even go to the mosque for prayers.

“Going after the spokesman of our party’s presidential campaign organisation is aimed at muffling the organisation’s voice and abridging the constitutionally-guaranteed rights of the spokesman himself. This is antithetic to democracy and totally unacceptable,’’ it said.

The APC called on those who sent the armed security personnel to Garba’s residence to immediately order their withdrawal and tell Nigerians what he did to warrant such harassment.

The party said coming after the siege by armed troops on the residence of the APC national leader, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in Lagos and a similar siege on the Imo State Government House in Owerri, it was now clear that the President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration had finally launched its much-anticipated clampdown on the opposition ahead of the general elections.

‘’The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Jonathan’s administration are bent on badgering the opposition through the harassment, intimidation and arrest of its leaders as well as the circulation of unfounded rumours against the party. These actions are all aimed at fomenting a crisis and scuttling the forthcoming elections.

‘’We are therefore calling on all Nigerians as well as the international community to take note of this growing pattern of harassment and intimidation of the opposition, and the effect such action will have on the conduct of the elections,’’ it said.

The APC equally said the party’s leadership and members would not be intimidated by the latest antics of the Jonathan administration to harass and intimidate the opposition, especially in the run-up to next month’s general elections.

Also in a statement issued yesterday by Mohammed, the party equally said its leadership and members would not be intimidated by the latest antics of the Jonathan administration to harass and intimidate the opposition, especially in the run-up to next month’s general elections.

It equally said the recent military siege on Tinubu’s residence and the Imo State Government House and the police harassment of Shehu fit perfectly into this emerging pattern.

‘’As the elections approach, we know the harassment and intimidation will be stepped up. We know our leaders, including the National Chairman, Chief John Oyegun, Tinubu, Governor Rotimi Amaechi, former governor Timipre Sylva, Senator Bukola Saraki and Lai Mohammed, are under surveillance and their phones being hacked.

‘’We are aware that several of them, especially the National Publicity Secretary, have been marked down for arrest in the days to come. We know there are evil plots to frame some of them on trumped-up charges. We know our lives are in danger. But these and more will not deter us from continuing to act in the national interest or from seeking to effect change through the ballot box.
‘’Yes, we are alerting Nigerians that if anything happens to us they should know where it is coming from, but for us there is no going back because we are resolute,’’ it said.

APC thanked Nigerians for their immense and unwaring support, especially since the postponement of the elections which was aimed at dampening the enthusiasm of the citizens, and urged them not to relent.

‘’We are glad that instead of weakening the resolve and enthusiasm of Nigerians, the Presidency-orchestrated postponement has further galvanized them to be more determined not only to vote but also to defend their votes.

‘’Nigerians must demand and insist that the elections be held as rescheduled, that there will be no interim government or tenure elongation. Nigerians have the power to forge change with their voter’s cards and no one must deny them that right,’’ the party said

APC called on President Jonathan to remember the verdict of history and put his dogs of war on a leash, realizing that history will judge no one but him even for the actions of his supporters, who are all acting in his name.