120 Anambra State Election Observers arrested and detained

According to a press release by lawyer and
activist, Mr Festus Keyamo, the Commissioner
of Police in Imo State, Mohammed Katsina,
ordered the arrest and detention of 120
accredited independent national electoral
commission observers who are to observe the
Anambra State Governorship election taking
place this Saturday. Find the press release
below...
We have been briefed by the All Progressives
Congress (APC) of the following facts:
1. That on Monday, 11th of
November, 2013, and Tuesday,
12 th of November, 2013, the
International Foundation for Electoral
Systems in collaboration with the
Independent National Electoral
Commission conducted training for
accredited independent election
observers who are to observe the
Anambra State gubernatorial election
scheduled for Saturday, 16th
November, 2013.
2. That on Thursday, November
14 th, 2013, the accredited observers
who participated in the training
above, met at Disyne Hotel located at
Owerri, Imo State, for further
training of their members ahead of
the Anambra State gubernatorial
election scheduled for Saturday, 16th
November, 2013.
3. That to the utmost dismay of
the innocent and patriotic election
observers, at about 2:00pm, the
hotel where they were undergoing
training was surrounded by heavily
armed police officers acting on the
instruction of Mohammed Katsina,
Commissioner of Police, Imo State,
who arrested the entire 120 persons
undergoing training.
5. That the entire accredited
observers are currently in detention
at the Imo State Police Command for
no offence.
We however, cannot fathom or comprehend
the rationale behind the actions or decisions
of Mohammed Katsina, Commissioner of
Police, Imo State, mentioned above, as same
are totally untenable in a civilized and
democratic society.
We cannot imagine why accredited election
observers, who were specifically trained by
the International Foundation for Electoral
Systems in collaboration with the
Independent National Electoral Commission,
to observe/monitor the Anambra State
gubernatorial election, should be arrested
and detained less than 24 hours to the
election.
We think that this is one of the grand plots to
rig the Anambra State gubernatorial election
scheduled for tomorrow by crippling genuine
election observers and allowing fake
observers to observe the process.
In the light of the above, we call on the
Inspector General of Police to order the
immediate release of the 120 accredited
independent election observers currently in
detention at the Imo State Police Command
so they can perform their patriotic duties
tomorrow.
Thank you.
FESTUS KEYAMO, ESQ.