Northern youths yesterday protested the continued incarceration of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) spokesman, Olisa Metuh at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) headquarters.
The youths under the aegis of Northern Youth Network (NYN) threatened to sue the Federal Government if the EFCC does not charge Metuh to court or release him within 48 hours.
Displaying a banner with the inscription “a solidarity protest for our democracy. President Muhammadu Buhari should allow democracy to stay. A call for immediate release of Chief Olisa Metuh, the mouthpiece of Nigeria constructive opposition party,” the group said President Buhari should be fair enough to invite All Progressives Congress (APC) members like Bola Tinubu and others alleged to have funded his campaigns.
Speaking on behalf of the group, NYN President, Comrade Mike Msuaan, said though they were in support of Buhari’s fight against insurgency, Buhari’s government should know that no nation thrives without constructive criticism from the opposition.
Msuaan explained that the group is not partisan neither does it belong to any political party, adding that the position of the group is to fight against violation of human rights.
He said that the continued incarceration of Metuh and other people in EFCC custody is a violation of their right, calling on the anti-graft agency to take them to court as EFCC is not a court of law.
He said APC should know that it was in opposition before and PDP allowed it to operate, adding that there is nowhere in the world a ruling party can deliver on its campaign promises unless prompted by opposition.
He said: “When you arrest, charge to court. We urge the Federal Government to charge Metuh to court within 48 hours. We will not accept if anything happens to him in detention.”
Meanwhile, the office of the PDP National Publicity Secretary has noted certain apparently sponsored reports in some section of the media dropping figures and falsely claiming that Metuh got the sum of N1.4 billion in addition to receiving N4 million monthly stipend from the Office of the former National Security Adviser.
Metuh, in a statement by his Special Assistant, Richard Ihediwa said the reports were completely false, mischievous and fabricated to mislead the public and derail the course of proper investigation on issues relating to Metuh.
The office said: “For the avoidance of doubt, neither Chief Metuh nor his office received the figures being bandied. We therefore challenge the EFCC to substantiate that Chief Metuh received the said N1.4 billion figure as well as make public any evidence that he ever received N4 million monthly stipend from the Office of the National Security Adviser.