Obi Criticizes Labour Party Chairman's ‘Demeaning’ Arrest

Julius Abure, Labour Party National Chairman, and Peter Obi, Former Presidential candidate

Peter Obi criticized the “humiliating” detention of Julius Abure, the party's national chairman.

Obi referred to Abure's arrest in Benin City, the capital of Edo State, on Wednesday afternoon as the “pinnacle of rascality” in a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter).

Videos that went viral showed Abure being abused by police officers while supporters of the LP struggled to stop his arrest.

According to the police, Abure was detained for attempted murder, unlawful gun possession, and other offenses. After LP members stormed the Zone 5 office in Edo to protest, the LP chairman was later released on bail early on Thursday.

In a social media statement, Obi said, “My stance on this matter remains unwavering but does not explain watching the distressing image of our National Chairman lying on the ground in the name of arrest.

Read: Detained Labour Party Chairman, Abure Reveals Who Was Behind His Arrest [VIDEO]

"This act is undesirable, demeaning and unequivocally intolerable and must be condemned by any decent and civilized mind within the context of our present civic landscape in Nigeria.

“These deplorable actions epitomize the pinnacle of rascality and serve to egregiously tarnish the already regrettable perception of our nation as one plagued by lawlessness.

“Such behaviour must not only be denounced but also actively addressed to uphold the principles of justice and respect for the dignity of the individual within our society.”

The previous governor of Anambra State stated that while “constitutional authorities must be allowed to execute their statutory functions, officers must adhere to due process, civility, decency and established arrest procedures, embody civility, decorum, respect for the dignity and rights of citizens, and, above all, the presumption of innocence before the law.”