South-West youths accuse FG of persecution over Kuku’s trial

South-West youths under the aegis of the National Committee of Yoruba Youths have accused the Federal Government of persecuting the opposition, saying the on-going trial of Mr Kingsley Kuku, the immediate past Special Adviser on Niger Delta and Chairman, Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), is symbolic of a deliberate attempt to hewn down the opposition elements in the country.

In a press statement signed by the group’s President, Comrade Oladimeji Odeyemi, the group “wishes to draw the attention of Nigerians and the international community, especially the government of the United States and that of Great Britain, to the growing politics of intolerance, intimidation, coercion, persecution and harassment by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari”.

He stated that contrary to its claim of commitment to the rule of law, the group was shocked to read in the media “about a plot to frame one of Nigeria’s most respected youth leaders, Hon. Kingsley Kuku, by some top officials in the administration of President Buhari on trumped-up charges bordering on terrorism and illegal stockpiling of arms”.

‎The group posited that the struggle to liberate the country from the military and their cronies, who held on to power for several years, was a major battle in Nigeria, saying ‘today it seems we should be prepared for a fiercer battle against the democratic cabals, political godfathers, buccaneers and vampires who have decided to keep genuine democrats in their armpits”.

It added that since the beginning of this administration, it has noticed, with utmost consternation, several published reports from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and some other partisan medium targeted at Kuku and some other managers of the PAP who served under him while in office.

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