Gombe: Police deny carting away N55m during raid on NNPP officials
The Gombe police have refuted claims that they stole N55 million in NNPP agent allowances when swooping on party executives Thursday night at a Gombe private residence.
Mahid Muazu Abubakar, an ASP and the PPRO for the Gombe Police Command, told our correspondent over the phone that when the party officials were brought to the Police Command, all problems that led to their arrest were resolved in front of the CP without any mention of any missing money from the party officials.
In an official statement, he however denied the rumors spreading on social media platforms that certain NNPP agents had been caught in Gombe State thumb-printing ballot papers in preparation for the governorship elections.
According to Mahid, a police investigation indicated that party members were utilizing sample ballots to inform prospective voters about how to vote for their candidate, which was printed in large letters on the sample ballot.
The statement stated further that “Given the foregoing, the Command urges the public to disregard the news because it was not only misleading but also a figment of the imagination of mischief makers who are bent on causing chaos in the State”.
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The New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) executives said that N55m intended for the party’s agents’ allowances during the poll on Saturday had been taken away when the Police pounced on them as they were preparing to distribute tags and sample ballots to their agents.
Ambrose Mairungu, the leader of the party in the Billiri Local Government Area of the State, described to our correspondent how two of their members had been sexually assaulted and severely injured by the police and later by personnel of “Operation Hattara,” a Gombe State combined security unit.
He said, “We were sorting out tags for our Local Government agents and not long after, Police pounced into the house threatening to arrest all of us.
“When we resisted, asking for reasons and their arrest warrant, they noticed we know our rights and left. Barely five minutes later, they returned with the operation hattara including some known faces, Mairago, Sakali, and a renowned driver.
“They started hitting us with sticks pulling Abdulmajid on the grounds and inflicting injuries on him. They also met Mela Lashiru Lele in his car outside and gave him the beating of his life.
“In the process, they left with N55m meant for our agents with the samples of ballot papers meant for enlightening our members.
“The sample ballot papers had photos of our candidates and it’s not a crime. Even before printing the papers, we went to INEC and asked since the ballot papers had no NNPP.
“That was what we did which is not a crime and we wanted to share it with LGA’s when they pounced on us badly injuring two of our members”, he stated.
Gombe: Police deny carting away N55m during raid on NNPP officials
