Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, has asked Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and the Nigerian Air Force leadership to publicly apologise to Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, for denying him (Ortom) entry into the naval base during the vice president’s visit to the state.
The PUNCH had earlier reported that Ortom on Saturday claimed he was denied entry into the Nigerian Air Force base, where he wanted to receive Osibanjo who was transiting the state despite a letter from the Presidency inviting him for the purpose.
Reacting to the development on Sunday, HURIWA National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, in a statement titled, ‘Ortom: Being member of opposition should not warrant victimisation, says HURIWA’, described the NAF action as ‘opposition victimisation’.
He said barring an elected state governor and Chief Security Officer of a state from the NAF Base is an affront to the principle of democracy.
Onwubiko said, “Denying Ortom, who is a member of the National Economic Council led by the Vice President himself from such an invited event is hypocritical of the administration of President and his Vice-President whom claim to be for everyone and for nobody.
“It is a known fact that Ortom, a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, has been very vocal in his criticism against the ruling All Progressives Congress. The embarrassment of Ortom on Saturday can be termed deliberate and an act of persecution for speaking out against the Buhari regime.
“The Saturday event again queries the genuineness of Nigeria’s federalism and again calls for the need for the states and the regions to have control over security agents in their domains.
“The silence of the Nigerian Air Force and the Vice-President a day after the matter is suspiciously complicitous. Both NAF and Osinbajo must publicly apologise to Ortom and sanction the overzealous officers for the flagrant disrespect of the governor. Belonging to an opposition party and being a critic should not warrant victimisation.”
