The Federal Capital Territory, FCT Police Command has explained why it barricaded the International Conference Centre, ICC venue of the stakeholders meeting of the Makarfi led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP on Monday.
TheNewsGuru.com reports that following the barricade, the meeting was moved to the Ekiti State Governor’s lodge in Abuja.
The command’s spokesman Anjuguri Manzah however denied allegations that the police acted on the order of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
Manzah said the command acted on intelligence reports that both factions (Makarfi and Sheriff) were planning to hold stakeholders meeting at the same venue (ICC) on the same day (Monday). The police said rather than allow both factions clash and cause national unrest, it decided to barricade the venue to stop access of both factions.
In Manzah’s words: “Credible intelligence at the disposal of the FCT Police Command indicated that the two factions i.e. the Ahmed Makarfi group and the Ali Modu Sheriff group scheduled to hold their meetings at the International Conference Centre today [Monday] and this can lead to serious clash and breach of public peace.”
TheNewsGuru.com reports that following the ruling of an Appeal Court on Friday in Port Harcourt which declared Senator Ali Modu-Sheriff as authentic chairman of the party, the Makarfi faction immediately convened the stakeholders meeting to address issues and what it will do next.