Police officers sealed the Arewa Consultative Forum's national headquarters in Kaduna on Tuesday. The action came just hours before a scheduled National Executive Council meeting.
ACF officials called the closure illegal and completely unjustified. Prof.
Tanko Muhammad Baba, the forum's national publicity secretary, said there was no apparent reason for the police action.
An unsigned circular attributed to the forum's Board of Trustees chairman, Bashir Dalhatu, claimed the NEC meeting had been cancelled. According to the document, only the Secretary General could convene such meetings.
ACF leaders flatly rejected this claim. They said they weren't aware of any court order restricting their operations or activities.
The forum stressed that Dalhatu's authority is limited by the ACF Constitution. Section 8 of the constitution defines what the BOT chairman can do.
Chairman Mamman Osuman properly convened both the NEC and National Working Committee meetings, ACF officials noted. Both meetings followed constitutional provisions, they said.
Neither meeting was called by the Secretary General, according to the statement. Debate over the Secretary General's tenure was irrelevant, officials added.
ACF leaders demanded that the Inspector General of Police intervene immediately. They want Kaduna's police commissioner to unseal their office building.
Earlier meetings at the headquarters happened without any problems whatsoever. Security agencies, including police, had been properly notified about all activities.
"There is absolutely no basis for sealing the office unless there are unstated motives," the forum declared. Officials expressed frustration over what they view as a deliberate obstruction.
Delegates from across Nigeria had already gathered in Kaduna for the meeting. The forum remained hopeful that "rationality and good judgement will prevail."
The closure marks an escalation in internal tensions within the northern organization. No official police statement explained the sealing operation.
