In view of the increasing violence in many parts of Kogi State ahead of the November 11 governorship election, the Civil Liberties Organization (CLO) has vowed to drag Governor Yahaya Bello to the International Criminal Court.
This was made known in Jos the Plateau State capital on Tuesday by the Director of the organization, Steve Aluko, at an interactive session with newsmen.
He said their decision has become imperative as the electoral violence in Kogi State has cost many lives and destruction of properties for some years now, and that most of the political violence in the state worsened under governor Bello.
The Director explained that the killings, attacks and destruction of properties are mostly targeted at the opposition parties, and that such daily political violence is almost becoming unprecedented in the history of the country.
Therefore, he said, Yahaya Bello must account for all the violence that has occurred under him since he is the number one security officer of the state, adding that as a civil right body, they are also including all those culpable in the violence.
He said in addition to their plan to drag Governor Bello to the ICC, they are also pushing for Visa ban against all those culpable in the Kogi political violence, and urged the United States of America, Europe, China and other Asian countries to act accordingly so that it would serve as deterrent to others.
Aluko said Bello must realize that election in Nigeria has become a global issue that will attract the attention and reaction of the international community, and any offence committed in any state of the nation cannot be isolated and go unpunished.
Furthermore, he pointed out that sometimes back, the attacks were focused against the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) where an instance of this was in the last 2019 election where the PDP women leader in Ochadamu area of Ofu Local Government was set ablaze in her house.
He said there were other attacks against the PDP then, including several against against the Kogi Central Senatorial candidate, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
According to him, “the attacks are now mostly on party officials, supporters and campaign offices of the Social Democratic Offices (SDP) and the disruptions of their political rallies by thugs.”
He said this has been happening almost on a daily basis for long now, including one of the latest ones which was last Saturday’s attack on the house of SDP Zonal Chairman, Pastor Sunday Atabo, where he was beaten to the state of coma and his property were destroyed in his Aja-Odi Agojoeju home.
He called President Bola Tinubu to urgently interfere in the Kogi electoral violence, if not it will appear that the President or All Progressive Congress (APC), under which Platform Bello is ruling, has a hand in the violence going on in Kogi State.
Also, the Director stressed that this is the first election being conducted under President Bola Tinubu’s watch, and that it will be an indictment on his part as the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces if such political violence or intimidation is allowed to continue, and the earlier he does it the better so that he will not be seen as an accomplice to the crime against humanity in the state.
