ABUJA - The Deputy Director of the IBB Campaign Organisation, Sen. Kanti Bello, Abuja admitted that the phone number to which suspected bombers on October 1, sent a message belonged to Raymond Dokpesi.Bello conceded to this during a press briefing at the IBB campaign office.
He, however, argued that Dokpesi’s phone number could be obtained by all manner of people without the knowledge of the proprietor of Da’ar Communications.
“Even I have people from Niger Delta ask me ‘senator, we are with you’, I don’t know how they got my number. He noted that the nation had relapsed into the days of repression of the opposition by the state.
“It appears that we are back to the dark days of executive brutality, intimidation, oppression, repression, harassment and deliberate use of falsehood and state power to hound the opposition,” Bello said.
He added that associates and supporters of former military president, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, deserved to be treated with decency as bonafide members of the PDP.
Bello recalled his earlier pronouncement that the lives of Dokpesi and other directors of the organisation were under threat.
According to him, supporters and followers of Babangida will remain law-abiding citizens.
“We join millions of Nigerians in condemning this bloody and unpatriotic act for which the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has claimed responsibility,” he said.
Bello also urged the government to tackle the security lapses that led to the bloody event to forestall a re-occurrence.
The State Security Services (SSS) on Monday invited Dokpesi over a message linking him to the bombers.
Meanwhile the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has condemned the bomb explosions that rocked Abuja on October 1, while the nation celebrated its 50th independence anniversary.
Mr. John Odah, the General Secretary of the NLC, who condemned the act in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja, said it was a criminal and cowardly.
It recalls that while the nation celebrated its 50th independence anniversary, two bombs exploded a few meters from Eagles Square, venue of the national celebrations.
The act claimed some 12 lives and left many others injured.
According to the NLC, it is an act of terrorism which is “indeed sad, unfortunate and totally unacceptable to Nigerians.
“The Nigeria Labour Congress unequivocally condenms this dastardly act which has further traumatised our national psyche, especially on a day we were supposed to be celebrating our Golden Independence Jubilee.“
We also sympathise with the families of those who lost their lives and those who were wounded in the bomb blasts.
Furthermore, we wish those who were injured in the unfortunate explosions a speedy recovery to full health,’’ Odah said.
He said the incident was another sad reminder of the grave state of insecurity currently prevalent in Nigeria.
The secretary general said the latest introduction of bomb explosions in the nation was a pointer that security was spiralling out of control.
He said the upsurge in crimes in Nigeria must be nipped in the bud immediately and urged the Federal Government to strengthen the intelligence and crime prevention capacity of the security agencies.
“The Nigeria Labour Congress called on the Federal Government to leave no stone unturned in unmasking the perpetrators of this devilish act and take drastic steps to bring them to justice.
“We also call on the Federal Government to publish the names of Nigerians who paid the supreme price as a result of this barbaric incident.
The government should also initiate steps to compensate the families of both the dead and wounded,’’ he said.
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