Hours to the commencement of today’s bye-election, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Kaduna State chapter, has alleged that its candidate for the Chikun/Kajuru Federal Constituency bye-election, Princess Esther Ashivelli Dawaki and 25 others have been abducted.
The claim was made Saturday morning by the State chairman of the party, Edward Percy Masha.
He blamed Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani for the alleged incident.
According to him, "In a shocking display of desperation, Operation Fushin Kada - a joint security network under the Kaduna State Government - laid siege to the City Den Hotel in Malali, broke into a room in a bid to whisk away the Chairman of the PDP Campaign Council, Hussein Ahmed-Kero, and when they could not find him, they abducted the PDP candidate for the Chikun/Kajuru Federal Constituency bye-election, Princess Esther Ashivelli Dawaki, and 25 others."
The PDP condemned what it called "this brazen act of harassment, intimidation, and insanity by the APC" and demanded the immediate and unconditional release of its candidate and all others being held hostage.
Masha also called on the Inspector General of Police, the Director General of the Department of State Services, the Chief of Army Staff, the Chief of Defence Staff, and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to intervene and put an immediate end to the "egregious abuse of power".
The party also urged civil society organizations and all lovers of democracy to rise up against the "blatant attack" on democracy and constitution in Kaduna State.
"For the avoidance of doubt, the PDP will not be intimidated or silenced.
“We, therefore, demand justice and the protection of our members' rights and also urge the people to stand firm and resist any attempt to intimidate or harass them or tamper with the process or outcome of the elections across all the polling units in the respective constituencies where the elections will be held," the statement explained.
The statement added, "The APC's actions signal that the party is heading towards defeat, hence its resort to this show of force, akin to the last kick of a dying horse.
“We wish to state, however, that no amount of intimidation can save the APC from its rejection by the people, even as the PDP will continue to stand up for their rights and freedoms.
“We will continue to provide updates on this and other issues."
Kaduna State Government is yet to react to the allegations as of the time of filing this report.
A source, however, hinted that the politician may have been arrested by security operatives and not a case of abduction as alleged by the PDP.