Charly Boy, leader of ‘OurMumuDonDo’ group, was a sad man on Thursday, as he strongly condemned the continued siege on the premises of the Peace Corps of Nigeria (PCN) by the Nigerian Police Force in defiance of court judgements.

Police personnel were, on Thursday, seen preventing members of the PCN from taking possession of their national headquarters located at number 57, Iya Abubakar Crescent, off Alex Ekwueme Way, opposite Jabi Lake, Jabi, Abuja. The place has been under siege by the police since February 28, 2017, the day the premises was officially commissioned.

Despite different court orders given at Federal High Court, Abuja, with the attendant letter from the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, that the police should obey the two subsisting court orders, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Ibrahim Kpotun Idris, has remained unperturbed.

The House of Representatives had through its Committee on Public Petitions, on Tuesday, urged the police to comply with court orders and the advice of the AGF.

As early as 10am on Thursday, officers of PCN under the leadership of the National Commandant, Amb (Dr.) Dickson Akoh, were ushered by the Coalition of Civil Society Organizations for Justice and Equity, to take possession of the office.

But they were firmly resisted by a detachment of well-armed Mobile Police officers from the FCT Command.

Reacting to this development, Charly Boy described the action of the police as an “act of injustice”, vowing to stand firm against it.

He said: “This is our country, we would have no place to call our own or go to, if we allow our system to erode. We won’t allow the IGP or anyone to give the youths reasons to resorting to self help or anarchy.”

The Civil Society Coalition led by Comrade Olayemi Success, said it was very ironical that, “same police which was supposed to be enforcing law could not obey court orders, the AGF and the order of Nigerian parliament.”

He lambasted the cops for embarrassing the Federal Republic of Nigeria before the international community, which caused the recent rating of “Nigeria Police being the worst in the whole world”.

With the heavy reinforcement from the police, the FCT Commissioner of Police, Bello Sadiq, pleaded with the Corps to hold on while he continued to consult with the IGP, whom he said has final say on the office.

Sadiq also mandated an Assistant Commissioner of Police, Olumese Valentine, to mediate between the civil society and the cop, to ensure that there were no altercations.

On his part, the Peace Corps boss, Akoh, said that as peaceful people and a law-abiding organisation, his men would retire home while waiting for the response of the IGP.

Akoh said the office was rented for three years with N13.8m annual rent, adding that the police had already vandalised the premises and looted some valuables.

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