TheCable

Kassim Afegbua, spokesman of former military president Ibrahim Babangida, says he committed no crime to warrant being declared wanted by the police.

Afegbua was declared wanted over the statement he released at the weekend on behalf of Babangida.

In the statement, Babangida bemoaned the incessant clashes and killings across the country, advocated for community policing, restructuring and noted that the country requires a “new breed of leaders” in 2019.

Subsequently, another statement purportedly signed by Babangida was released to counter the initial one put out by Afegbua.

Although Babangida later confirmed the veracity of Afegbua’s statement, the police on Monday declared him wanted.

Reacting to the development, Kayode Ajulo & Co, representatives of Afegbua, said there is a “desperate” attempt by some individuals to “to intimidate him and bend his will”.

The statement read: “Prince Afegbua is a well known journalist and was a cabinet member of Edo state government with a known address in Benin, Edo state and Abuja, yet he is not on notice of the police invitation whatsoever, before the purported publication declaring him wanted.

“For the avoidance of doubt, there are spelt-out procedures for declaring a person wanted by the Police. The Police or other law enforcement agencies can declare a person wanted if they find reasons to do so, particularly if the person is a suspect in the commission of a crime and is on the run.

“The public must know that our client, in discharging his duty to his principal, General Ibrahim Babangida, GCFR cannot by any stretch of the imagination be said to have committed a crime that warrants such negative publicity. Neither is he on the run.

“Our client, however, remains undeterred by the desperate efforts of some individuals to intimidate him and bend his will and rights against the Constitution provisions, framework of Nigeria Police Force Act and the laws of the land.

“The circumscription of his constitutional right to the dignity of self, freedom of expression and fair hearing denotes that there is a desperate attempt to scare him into submission.

“We have advised Prince Afegbua of his right and remedies available to him, as a law abiding citizen of NIgeria, he has elected to make himself available to the Police on Wednesday once he returns from his trip.”