Nigerian opposition alleges spy agency plot against Sokoto rally
The opposition ADC party's presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, says protesters are being mobilized to create disorder before Wednesday's rally.
Nigeria's opposition African Democratic Congress accused the country's secret police of plotting to disrupt its campaign rally in Sokoto on Tuesday, Turkey's state-run news agency Anadolu Agency reported.
Presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president, alleged that the State Security Service, also known as the Department of State Services, was mobilizing protesters to cause disorder before Wednesday's rally.
Abubakar claimed the protesters were gathering at an office behind Zenith Bank on Koko Road and being moved by truck to strategic points across the city.
He said some of them had started blocking traffic, threatening motorists and assaulting residents, which he described as an effort to pave the way for a curfew that would prevent the rally.
Abubakar urged security agencies to stay neutral and protect the right of opposition parties to hold political activities.
Sokoto State Police Command spokesperson Ahmad Rufai said efforts would be made to prevent violence during the rally, but he declined to comment on an earlier alleged attack on the ADC's governorship candidate.
The allegations follow an Oct. 30 incident in which personnel from Sokoto Marshal and the state Community Guard Corps reportedly blocked the convoy of ADC governorship candidate Manir Muhammad Dan'iya near Sultan Abubakar III International Airport, fired gunshots and damaged one of his vehicles, Dan'iya said.
The Sokoto State Government has also sealed an ADC campaign office on Ahmadu Bello Way in the state capital, days before the party's planned campaign launch, and said the building previously belonged to the defunct Savannah Bank whose ownership remains unresolved after its liquidation.
Democracy advocates criticized the sealing, calling it a setback for democratic freedoms and political pluralism in Nigeria.
Opposition figures in several states have accused authorities of using state institutions and security structures to restrict their activities ahead of the 2027 general elections.