Osun State Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, has urged Nigerians to resist further attempt by the Federal Government to use soldiers for election duties.
Aregbesola said this in a statement made available to our correspondent in Osogbo on Tuesday by the State Director of Communication Bureau, Alhaji Semiu Okanlawon.
The governor spoke at the launch of Armed Forces Remembrance emblem held at the Government House in Osogbo.
He berated the FG for deploying soldiers for the August 9 governorship poll in Osun State, but urged Nigerians to stop them in February.
According to him, the military and other security agents should not be allowed to be used to intimidate civilians during and after the general elections.
The governor unveiled the Armed Forces remembrance emblem with N2.5m, explaining that he could not march the N10m he donated last year because of cash crunch
He said, “It is a great misnomer and misuse of the military and society’s resources for soldiers to be deployed as instruments for abridging the citizens’ freedom and liberty, and to intimidate and bully them for the sinister purpose of gaining electoral advantage.
“This we have witnessed on several occasions in recent times when the government at the centre unleashed combat-ready soldiers on the populace in a purely civil matter of vote casting by law-abiding citizens.
“More alarming is the fact that this happened at a time when a part of the country had been taken over by a terrorist group whose dislodgement should have been a matter of high national security priority.
“Such inexcusable abuse of authority and citizens’ trust ought to trigger in any right-thinking citizen a deep sense of patriotic indignation.”
The Deputy Commandant General and Chairman Nigerian Legion in Osun, Col. Alimi Samotu (retd.), called on the FG to pay the 20 per cent balance of the pension arrears to avoid possible continuous demonstration in future.
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Resist FG plans to use soldiers during election - Aregbesola urges Nigerians
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