[size=14pt]Iyorchia Ayu goes underground for fear of arrest[/size]
Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation.12/03/2011 02:28:00

For fear of being arrested by the State Security Services (SSS), President of the Senate, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu and Alhaji Bashir Ibrahim Yusuf have gone underground.

The duo who are members of the Northern Political Leaders Forum, led by Mallam Adamu Ciroma, were being hunted by the SSS as at press time yesterday.

But the NPLF leader, Ciroma, demanded immediate release of the NPLF leaders arrested on Wednesday and Thursday by the SSS. He has since been released.

The forum, however, foreclosed its support for the President in April.

Investigation by The Nation showed that Ayu and Bashir chose to go underground following a tip-off that they were being trailed.

It was learnt that Ayu has been contacted and ordered to report to the SSS.

But Ayu, who is currently in Benue, said he would make himself available on Monday. The whereabouts of Bashir Ibrahim Yusuf was unknown.

A top source in the NPLF, who spoke in confidence, said: "Some of our leaders have gone underground. There was an attempt by security agencies to arrest Ayu and Bashir but they could not locate them.

"Our leaders therefore decided to change their strategy and watch their movement within and outside the country.

"I think the government is uncomfortable that the NPLF has refused to take a position to back President Goodluck Jonathan.

"The truth is that since the February 18 meeting between the NPLF leaders and Jonathan, they had come under heavy attack for not being consistent on zoning. And Jonathan is not forthcoming on zoning policy in 2015 if backed by the north.

"If the NPLF leaders renege on their commitment to zoning, they might be stoned in the north.

"The government is aware of the decision of the NPLF leaders not to back Jonathan and that is why it is resorting to mass arrest of its leaders especially its grassroots mobilisers."

Asked why NPLF leaders were arrested, the source added: "We learnt that there was a petition sent to the secret service alleging a meeting of a little known group in Kaduna on February 17, 2011 at which an alleged decision to "poison" President Goodluck Jonathan was taken.

"But our leaders have dismissed the story as a decoy and a plot to get at the leaders of the group.

"The February 17, 2011, the day in question, was incidentally the same date that the NPLF secretariat staff were running up and down Abuja to coordinate the meeting between President Jonathan and the NPLF, which took place a day after at the residence of Mallam Adamu Ciroma.

"This allegation is laughable; it is just a decoy, an intimidation aimed at sending a strong message of to our principals – IBB, Atiku, Gusau, Ciroma and co.

"The government is angry that the north is not inclined to give support to Jonathan. Although the NPLF met yesterday as planned, they could not receive and adopt the report of the seven-man committee they set up jointly with the President.

"The meeting, which recorded a high level of attendance, was preoccupied with the issue of the arrests of the NPLF secretariat staff by the SSS and therefore no decision could be taken at the end of the day."

As at press time, the Secretary of the NPLF, Abdulkadir Bello, was said to have been released on Thursday evening while the former National Youth Leader of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Farouk Bibi Farouk was still in the custody of the State Security Services (SSS) more than 24 hours after he had reported himself.

In a statement in Abuja yesterday by the NPLF, which was signed by Ciroma, the Forum expressed regrets by the recourse to suppression of the opposition by the presidency.

The statement said: "The Forum was taken by surprise by the sudden invitation extended to some members of its Secretariat by the Department of State Security, which has led to their inexplicable detention and called on the Federal Government to order their release without further delay.

"The forum was saddened by the fact that just over a month to the general elections in April, an atmosphere capable of promoting the freedom of the electorate to choose their leaders was yet to emerge.

"It called on the authorities concerned to give practical expression to the oft-repeated commitment of the government to free, fair and credible elections or risk reducing the exercise to an avenue for the waste of public resources only to undermine the legitimate aspiration of Nigerians to make their votes count this time around."

The NPLF however foreclosed support for Jonathan during the presidential election in April.

http://thenationonlineng.net/web3/news/30538.html

Someone said they were invinsible! Mistake!
They should all be locked up and made to the see signs and wonders only SSS methods can produce.