Senator Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe (PDP Cross River North), has challenged the Police in Cross River state to be professional in their conduct by not colluding in anyway with members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in their cheap blackmail against him.
Jarigbe who was the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the National Assembly election conducted penultimate Saturday, defeated Governor Ben Ayade of the APC, said despite the crushing defeat suffered by APC in Cross River North, members of the party were still all out to tarnish his image and reputation.
Addressing the press in his office on Monday, Senator called on the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba Alkali to put a stop to the show of shame going on in Cross River state where losers of election are hell bent in disparaging the winner.
He specifically called for arrest of Chairman of APC in the state, Alphonsus Eba and thorough investigation of alleged nefarious activities of DCP operations, Mr Francis Idu and the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, CSP Irene Ugbo.
He said: “The Independent National Electoral Commission declared my party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and my humble self, winner of the Cross River North Senatorial District Elections held on the 25th of February, 2023.
“We emerged victorious in that election with 76, 145 votes; while the candidate of the All Progressive Congress, APC, the sitting Governor of Cross River State, H. E. Sir Benedict Ayade, came second with 56, 595 votes. A clear difference of 19,550 votes. Our people made it abundantly clear that I was their choice.
“But surprisingly, one DCP Francis Idu, in the Cross River State Police headquarters, who is under the patronage of the State Government and their lackeys, is abusing his office by indulging Alphonsus Eba in his psychotic odyssey of writing frivolous petitions against me and other respected indigenes of Cross river North.
“It is surely a wonder of the criminal world, for a man who was caught on camera disrupting collation of results at an INEC collation centre to turn around and be writing frivolous petition against us, when he should be facing charges for electoral offences.
“The height of this shameless alliance with Alphonsus Eba and these shameless elements in the Police, is a video my attention was drawn to, where some persons were paraded by the police in Cross River state allegedly for perpetrating election violence in the just concluded presidential and National Assembly elections held on the 25th of February, 2023.
“During this parade, the Force PPRO, CSP Irene Ugbo, stated in a manner that borders on criminal unprofessionalism, that I have been invited to answer questions related to the arrest of those being paraded. This statement made by Irene Ugbo, the PPRO had no correlation with the written statement of the suspects.”
