Attack on Buhari, Osinbajo in Ogun is a treasonable offense, says Falana

Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN) on Wednesday said the stoning of President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo by supporters of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) during last Monday’s campaign of the All Peoples Congress (APC) in Abeokuta was treasonable.

Falana, while reeacting to the incident, expressed regret that the Police had not arrested anybody in connection with the attack on the President, his Vice and other leaders of the APC.

He said Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State could not absolve himself of the blame as the chief security officer of the state.

Falana regretted that Amosun visited Abuja several times before last Monday’s campaign with the governorship candidate of the APM, Adekunle Akinlade, the President welcomed them to the villa.

He said the governor ought to have been told long before the campaign that his activities were anti-party.

The lawyer also blamed the various security agencies in the state for the incident, noting that they did nothing to prevent or stop the attack on the President.

He said the security agencies, despite knowing that it was APC rally allowed another party and its supporters to infiltrate the venue.

Falana contended that this ugly situation persisted because Police and other security agencies that should be alive to their responsibilities did nothing about it.

He recalled that some time ago, supporters of former Oyo state governor, Chief Rasheed Ladoja and Alao Akala clashed and six people died, the Police did not arrest nor prosecute anybody over the incident.

Falana lamented the spate of disrespect and other acts against the person of the President of the country by the opposition, describing it as an insult against his office.

He recalled that during presentation of the 2019 budget, when the president was booed by some members of the National Assembly, the only thing he said was that ‘the world is watching’, noting, “here in Abeokuta, he kept quiet and allowed the situation to degenerated”.

He said when the President was attending rally of the APC, similar incident happened in Port Harcourt, Rivers State and Imo State in particular where the state governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha was campaigning for Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN) gubernatorial candidate, nobody was cautioned.