The Gombe State Police Command has refuted claims that its personnel stole N55 million meant for New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) agent’s allowances when they swooped on the party executives, Thursday night, at a private residence.
Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) for te command, ASP Mahid Muazu Abubakar, told our correspondent in a telephone interview, that when the party officials were brought to the Police Command, the issues that led to their arrest were resolved before the Commissioner of Police (CP) and no mention was made of any missing money.
The party’s executives had said that N55 million intended for NNPP agent’s allowances during the Saturday poll had been taken away when the police pounced on them as they were preparing to distribute tags and sample ballots to their agents.
The leader of the party in the Billiri Local Government Area of the state, Ambrose Mairungu, told our correspondent that, “We were sorting out tags for our Local Government agents when police pounced on us and threatened to arrest all of us.
“When we resisted, asking for the reasons and their arrest warrant, they left. They returned barely five minutes later with the Operation Hattara, including some known faces like Mairago, Sakali, and a renowned driver.
“…In the process, they left with N55 million meant for our agents with the samples of ballot papers meant for enlightening our members.
“The sample ballot papers had photos of our candidates and it’s not a crime. Even before printing the papers, we went to INEC and asked since the ballot papers had no NNPP.
“That was what we did which is not a crime and we wanted to share it with LGAs when they pounced on us badly injuring two of our members,” he stated.
