Niger APC Youth, Two Others Arrested, Remanded Over Alleged Booing Of Lawmaker

A member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Niger State, Ibrahim Katun, has reportedly been arrested after attending a party reconciliation meeting in his ward.

A source privy to the situation told Sahara Reporters that Katun was “arrested and taken to court without being given a fair hearing”.

“The judge subsequently ordered that he be remanded in prison,” the source said.

“The incident followed a dispute involving the member of the House of Representatives representing the Agaie-Lapai Federal Constituency, who is also the Chairman of the House Committee on Judiciary. The lawmaker was booed in his ward when he went for the reconciliation meeting. That is why he sent the three people involved to prison. Katun was one of them.”

The lawmaker representing Agaie/Lapai Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives is Abdullahi Mamudu, an APC member who currently chairs the House Committee on Judiciary.

However, some youths also confirmed that Katun was taken to court and subsequently remanded in prison.

The allegations were contained in separate statements shared by Shuaibu Pata Moh’d and Abdulhammad A Baro, who expressed concern over Katun’s continued detention and its impact on his family on Facebook.

Pata Moh’d, in a statement, said Katun’s arrest had left his family in distress, alleging that those responsible for his arrest were living comfortably while he remained in custody.

“The people who plotted the arrest of Ibrahim Katun are right now in their comfort zones sleeping peacefully with their families, enjoying this cold weather and my friend is in a cold prison cell and left behind his two wives and three innocent children in tears,” he said.

“History is recording.”

Similarly, Baro called for Katun’s immediate release, saying his detention should not be allowed to become a source of division among youths in the area.

“Anyone responsible for Ibrahim Katun’s arrest must release him without delay,” Baro said.

“Ibrahim is a confirmed and a card-carrying member of the APC, and we cannot remain passive while politicians subject the people they are meant to serve to such humiliation.”

Baro added that the youths were making efforts to unite themselves but alleged that political leaders were undermining such efforts.

“We are making efforts to unite ourselves as youth, but our leaders are undermining us in this way,” he said.

“This must come to an end immediately!”

The allegations come amid claims that Katun had travelled to his ward to participate in an APC reconciliation meeting before he was arrested.

According to the account circulating among the youths, Katun was subsequently taken before a court and remanded in prison, alongside two other people.

The youths further alleged that the development was connected to internal political disagreements surrounding the reconciliation meeting.

However, the specific circumstances surrounding Katun’s arrest, the charges filed against him, the court that ordered his remand and the identities of the other two people reportedly detained with him were not immediately clear from the accounts available.

Efforts by Sahara Reporters to reach the Kogi State Police Command spokesperson, ASP Saliu Oyiza Afusat, for comment on Katun's arrest were unsuccessful.