The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre, RULAAC on Tuesday called on the Inspector General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba to take urgent action to guarantee the safety and liberty of one Chief Cosmas Okoli from alleged threat by one Oluomo Alade Anifowoshe, on account of his political leaning and opinion.
In a statement signed by its Executive Director, Mr Okechukwu Nwanguma, the RULAAC said that it had received information from Chief Okoli, who had expressed fears for his safety and liberty following alleged threats to his life by Mr. Anifowoshe.
The group said Chief Okoli had informed it that he is a Nigerian of Igbo extraction who resides and does business in Amuwo-Odofin, Lagos State and had lived in Lagos for over thirty years, contributing to the development and prosperity of Lagos.
The group said Chief Okoli alleged that Mr. Anifowoshe had threatened his life simply because he expressed his political opinion, which did not go down well with Mr. Oluomo.
The statement said; “That he (Chief Okoli) expressed his opinion on WhatsApp as follows: ‘Fellow compatriots, history beckons on all of us. Let us eschew personal interest and join hands together to install a man who we (the people) can jointly hold accountable to our commonwealth. Peter Obi is the hope we have in times like this’ the people yearn for him. Let us bring him in.’
“That in response to his nonviolent and harmless message, Mr. Anifowoshe wrote and sent him the following threatening message: ‘Why don’t you hold him accountable for what he did when he was Anambra State Governor? When he invested State money in his family business. Please if you continue like this, we will ensure we send you out of Lagos state comes June.’
“That he received credible information from reliable sources that there is an underground plot to kill or grievously harm him and anyone else like him who resides in Lagos, but fails to support Mr. Anifowoshe’s political party and Presidential candidate.
“That he believes that this is a very unfortunate and worrying development. Section 42 of the Constitution provides that no one should be discriminated against, not to talk of killed or even harm, on account of his political opinion. And section 39 gives every citizen the freedom to express his or her opinion, including political opinion.
“That what makes him even more vulnerable is the fact that he is a person living with disability as he is on a wheel chair and his addresses are well known to Mr. Anifowoshe and his cohorts who have in the past approached him to abandon his political party and join and support their own political party and candidate but he told them his conscience does not support that.
“That his area of residence is prone to political violence and attacks by agents and thugs of Mr. Anifowoshe’s political party who often harass residents for not supporting their political party and are known to have also violently disrupted elections in the area because election results were not likely to go in favour of their political party.
“That he is seriously concerned because this is a season of political killings with reports of politically motivated attacks and killings across the county dominating daily news reports.”
RULAAC called the attention of the IGP to the complaints by Chief Okoli and requested him to use his good offices to take proactive action to restrain Mr. Anifowoshe and his cohorts, and nip in the bud any plot to kill or maim Chief Cosmos and any other person who may knowingly or unknowingly be in similar danger as the 2023 general elections approach.
“RULAAC calls on the IGP to guarantee the safety and liberty of Chief Cosmos and to investigate the threat to his life by Mr. Anifowoshe with a view to bringing him to book if found culpable,” the statement concluded.
