The Commissioner for Information in Kogi State, Kingsley Fanwo, stated that it will be up to security personnel to decide if Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan should face arrest for violating the state’s ban on public gatherings.
On Monday, Governor Usman Ododo imposed a ban on all public gatherings, citing intelligence that suggested some individuals planned to incite trouble.
However, Akpoti-Uduaghan expressed her determination to meet with her constituents to celebrate Eid-el-Fitr.
In response, the police cautioned her to cancel the event, warning that they would “enforce the full force of the law” against anyone who disrupts peace and order in the state.
“In view of the security threat received on the planned rally, the Kogi State Police Command is therefore advising the organisers to cancel the event so as to avoid any breakdown of law and order in the State. As the Command will not hesitate to apply the full wrath of law on anyone who causes disturbance of peace and order in the State,” the police said.
Reacting on Tuesday night after the gathering was held, Fanwo said on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme: “There was a directive from the state governor and the security agencies were told to execute the directive.
“If someone has violated it, the security agencies do not need the governor again to give them another directive; they know what to do.
“Only the security agencies will be able to answer that (whether to arrest the senator or not); they know how they go about their operations. I am not a police officer but I am very sure that she should be asked a lot of questions about her incitements.”