Governor Mukhtar Yero of Kaduna State has told the National Human Rights Commission, that the violent attacks on members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were carried out by suspected thugs of the All progressives Congress (APC).
He said the development was a sign that the opposition party does not want a peaceful election in the State.
The Governor, therefore, called on the commission and security agencies to call the perpetrators to order in line with the peace accord they signed.
Governor Yero made the declaration during a meeting with the chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Professor Chidi Odinkalu.
political parties
The governor in his speech told the commission how the PDP members and supporters have been intimated and attacked by APC thugs, even going as far as burning down their campaign vehicles and pulling down bill boards.
Governor Yero told supporters and members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to be vigilant and protect themselves from being attacked by suspected hired political thugs of the opposition the APC across the State.
Responding to the Governor’s request, the Chairman of NHRC, Professor Odinkalu, assured the governor that all issues raised would be looked into and asked the ruling party to show tolerance to the opposition in order to deepen democracy in the country.
Professor Odinkalu further asked political parties to respect the peace accord they jointly signed as well as ensuring that their members and supporters also abide by the accord.
After the meeting, he told reporters that unlike in 2011 when perpetrators of election violence went scot-free, the commission was determined to ensure that anyone involved in any violent attacks during the forthcoming polls would be brought to justice.
Odinkalu called on political parties and their candidates to conduct their electioneering campaigns in a peaceful manner in order to ensure a violent free polls.
He said that the commission was already compiling all incidents of human rights abuses across the country and would make its findings known in due course.
Kaduna is among the States in Nigeria that witnessed post-election violence in 2011, which claimed thousands of human lives.
The election is few days away and there are fears of an imminent crisis due to the violent manner the parties have conducted their campaigns so far.
It is against this backdrop that the NHRC is visiting the State across the country to appeal to all political gladiators to shun violence before, during and after the elections.
