The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has called on the Department of State Services to release Eyinnaya Abaribe, the senator representing Abia South in the Senate.
Abaribe was arrested in Abuja on Friday, June 20, 2018, at a popular hotel located at Maitama District.
The DSS had yet to issue a statement on the reason behind the arrest.
But the party also expressed fears over the safety of the senator.
In a statement issued by Kola Ologbondiyan, the national publicity secretary of the party, in Abuja on Friday, June 20, 2018, the PDP lamented that the “Gestapo-style ” arrest of Abaribe has further confirmed its earlier alarm that the Federal Government had commenced what it described as a total clampdown on the opposition and perceived opponents of President Muhammadu Buhari’s 2019 re-election bid.
Ologbondiyan said, “The clampdown on Senator Abaribe is feared to be in furtherance of the moves to intimidate and emasculate members of the National Assembly who are known for their outspokenness against the constitutional violations and misrule of the APC administration.
“The PDP notes that the Federal Government has given no reasons for the arrest and detention of Senator Abaribe, who has been kept incommunicado without access to his lawyers and associates.
“The party also notes the apprehension of Nigerians following numerous alleged plots by the Federal Government to frame up other lawmakers, including Senate President Bukola Saraki, Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremmadu, as well as Senators Dino Melaye and Shehu Sani.
“Nigerians can now see that our dear nation is fast descending into a fascist state where constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech no longer obtains and citizens are marked, arrested and detained on the whims and caprices of those in power.”
Ologbondiyan asked the DSS to immediately declare Abaribe’s whereabouts, as well as the charge against him.
He added that “the laws of our nation are clear on the process of arrest and prosecution of any citizen and not recourse to clampdown and intimidation.”
