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Yakasai’s arrest a sad reminder of Buhari’s critics’ disappearance – PDP

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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Saturday condemned the arrest of the Special Adviser on Media to Kano State Governor, Salihu Tanko Yakasai, by the Department of State Services (DSS).

The DSS had on Friday arrested Yakasai for criticising President Muhammadu Buhari over the abduction of 373 students of Government Girls Secondary School in Jangabe, Zamfara State, by armed bandits.

Yakasai, who reacted to the students’ abduction on his Twitter handle, asked President Buhari to address the incessant abduction of students by bandits and other security challenges in the country or resign.

In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, PDP said the arrest and detention of the governor’s media aide was a sad reminder of the disappearance of known critics of the Buhari administration, Abubakar Idris, and Abu Hanifa Dadiyata, since August 2019.

It, therefore, demanded the immediate release of Yakasai by DSS.

The party also knocked Governor Abdullahi Ganduje for sacking the aide over his comments on the President.

READ ALSO: DSS arrests Ganduje’s aide who criticized Buhari, APC

The statement read: “The party describes the reported arrest of Salihu by security operatives as well as his alleged detention in a secret facility, just after his criticism against the Buhari administration’s failures in the fight against banditry in our country, as completely unacceptable.

“Salihu Yakasai’s ordeal is a sad reminder of the sudden disappearance of another known critic of the Buhari administration, Abubakar Idris, popularly known as Abu Hanifa Dadiyata, since August 2019.

“The PDP reminds agents of the APC-led administration that Nigeria is a democratic nation and that the rights of citizens, including their freedom of expression, within the ambit of the law, are firmly guaranteed in the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and as such, must be respected.

“The PDP also condemns the decision of the Governor of Kano State, Alhaji Umar Ganduje, in summarily relieving Salihu Yakasai of his appointment as his Special Adviser on Media, on the ground that his patriotic demand for decisive action to end terrorism, was contrary to the stand of the APC government.

“The action of the Governor Ganduje has again heightened apprehensions on the alleged connections between APC leaders and the bandits pillaging our nation. In this regard, the PDP demands that Governor Ganduje comes clean on the matter.”

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