Group Demands Immediate Release Of Abuja-based Blogger Arrested By Bello

A civil rights organisation, Kogi Renaissance Group (KRG), has condemned the arrest and detention of a renowned blogger and fierce critic, Austin Okai, on the alleged orders of the Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, and has issued a 24-hour ultimatum for his release.

The activist was said to have been picked on Sunday by security operatives in an eatery in Utako area of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), where he had gone to eat with some friends, and thereafter whisked to Lokoja, the Kogi State capital.

The KRG, in a statement by its spokesman, Edward Obalemo, also vowed “to mobilise other civil society groups and affiliate organisations to make Kogi State ungovernable, unless Okai was released in the next 24 hours.”

The arrest of Okai, according to the Group, was the height of intolerance and insensitivity on the part of Bello.

KRG added that it had become clear that the latter wants to rule Kogi by force.

“There are stories of illegal detention and harassment of opponents. There are also claims that the governor runs an illegal detention centre in government house, Lokoja. To go after Okai, whose only offence is speaking against the evils of the government, is the height of intolerance and insensitivity,” Obalemo said.

It particularly condemned, in strong terms, the gestapo manner the arrest was carried out, including the forceful movement of Okai from Abuja to Lokoja.

“It reflected the desperation of an illegitimate administration trying to force itself on the people.

“It is a common fact that Governor Yahaya Bello was not the choice of the people. He is a creation of the leaders of his party, All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja. Yahaya Bello is an impostor and unknown to the law. So also is the supplementary election that brought him. Both were smuggled into the electoral process to give the APC victory.

“Any sane mind knows that such a devilish plot cannot withstand the rigours of judicial scrutiny in civilised climes. The  threats and arrest of our people by this government that has not paid salaries in the last 16 months reflects the mind set of the APC led Federal Government in spite of their pretentious anti-corruption and rule of law exterior.

“But let me restate that, whatever plans are being hatched, the people of Kogi cannot be deceived anymore; the rule of law cannot be said to exist in a regime in which those in power manipulate the state apparatuses to impudently and unabashedly rape our democracy And the gestapo arrest and forceful movement of Okai simply reflects the fact that he is desperate to force his illegitimate government on the people,” Obalemo said.

It advised Bello and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) government in Abuja to learn to tolerate opposing views, which it stated, are important milestones in a democratic setting.