Benue APC Stakeholders Demand Release of Detained Lawmaker

All Progressives Congress (APC) stakeholders from Katsina-Ala local government area have condemned the continuous detention of the member representing Katsina Ala East Constituency, Jonathan Agbidyeh.

They called for the immediate release of the lawmaker who has been in detention for over seven days.

Their spokesperson, Chief Fanen Ihyongo, during a press conference in Makurdi, the state capital, also asked the general public to disregard all mischievous publications by overzealous publishers against the secretary to the government of the federation (SGF) George Akume regarding Agbidyeh’s detention.

They described the publications as “mendacious propaganda and damaging fiction.”

They also decried a situation where the lawmaker who was arrested on Monday, March 18, 2024, around 2pm by the Department of State Services (DSS) is still in custody till date.

Ihyongo described the continued detention of the lawmaker as constitutionally wrong, alleging that from the look of things Agbidyeh’s detention is politically motivated.

While calling for Agbidyeh’s release to carry out his legislative functions, the stakeholders recalled that sometimes in the past the lawmaker was accused of being behind the crimes in Sankera and was tried at the high court in Makurdi and acquitted.

The certified true copies of the proceedings and judgment are there as proof that all the charges against him were dropped, Ihyongo noted.

He said, “We are sad and angry that Agbidyeh is suffering over what he knows nothing about, and we wish to inform DSS and all security agencies, including the press, as well as the general public that what is happening to the legislature is a frame-up through series of onslaughts orchestrated by his political enemies within and outside the APC.

“Their curious intention is to remove him from the State House of Assembly. It is worth mentioning that it was the same group that stopped Agbidyeh, who is the highest-ranking officer in the state Assembly, from becoming the majority leader of the House,” he said.