Buhari group denies presence of political prisoners in Nigeria

A pro-Buhari group, the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO), has denied insinuations in the country that there are some persons who are political prisoners under the present dispensation, insisting that there are no political prisoners in Nigeria.

While arguing that any such allegation can only be false and cannot be substantiated, the BMO in a statement signed by its Chairman, Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary, Cassidy Madueke said that the claim exists only in the imagination of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its national chairman, Prince Uche Secondus.

According to them, “It is laughable that the chairman of what is supposed to be Nigeria’s main opposition party could so glibly suggest that President Muhamadu Buhari is holding political prisoners.

 “If there is any comment that can be tagged irresponsible, this is it. It shows that Secondus has little or no clue on who a political prisoner is. Or maybe he is just being mischievous, as opposition elements have been after the massive loss their presidential candidate suffered in the February 23, 2019 election.

“We are mindful of the fact that there are a handful of high profile individuals in lawful custody, but they all have cases in court that have nothing to do with their political stand which determines whether someone is being held for purely political reasons.

“We need to also inform the PDP chairman that  there is an international convention that stipulates that those deprived of their personal liberty for terrorist crimes shall not be considered political prisoners if they are being prosecuted for such crimes, according to national legislation.

“So how could the PDP national chairman on this basis accuse the Buhari administration of refusing to release those he claimed are political prisoners, when no one in lawful custody qualifies to be described as such,” the group said.

BMO also dismissed the coalition of 51 civil society organisations (CSO) which accused the government of restricting the civil space to groups on a fund raising drive.

“Just like PDP, these CSOs are just out to play to the gallery with their blanket allegations against the Buhari administration.

“Aside from name-checking Omoyele Sowore, the convener of the RevolutionNow protests, they could not come up with any other example to back up their claims that the government had been muzzling dissenting views and other grave allegations against the Buhari-led administration.

“We wonder why individuals behind the CSOs have failed to see that what Sowore did amounted to a call for an undemocratic regime change. They also pretend not to know that the security agency holding him is already in court to seek an order to detain him pending the conclusion of investigation.   

 “But we are aware that there is an intense competition across the world for donors, so it is not surprising that these organisations are on a drive to convince their funders to devote more money for Nigeria.

“In fact we are expecting them to ramp up their drive for funds in the coming months through various activities with which they have to prove to donor agencies that there is a lot of job to be done in the country.

“Our message to them and their funders is that nobody is being held for political reasons in the country and none, not even government critics, would suffer the type of fate that was visited on Nigerians in the past.”