Nigeria: Political Tolerance, Please

24 March 2006
editorial

There is palpable apprehension regarding the likelihood of clampdown on dissents by government as preparations for 2007 elections gather momentum. Some days ago, Lawal Kaita, erstwhile governor of Kaduna State and Chieftain of newly registered political party, Advanced Congress of Democrats, ACD, was arrested by men of State Security Service, SSS, in his Katsina State home.

Kaita, 74, was whisked to Abuja where he was detained for 12 hours by the SSS. The questions Kaita claimed he was asked contradicted the official position given for his arrest. "In Abuja, they sought to know the organisation, structure, source of funds and membership of ACD. This is a political party, not a terrorist organisation....", he declared. The Federal Government responded by saying he was arrested based on intelligence reports that "he was at the helm of the recruitment of miscreants to cause mayhem in some states."

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