The Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) has condemned the reported arrest of five youths in Borno State over T-shirts bearing the inscription ‘Tinubu Must Go,’ saying the coalition of opposition parties will take up the matter.
The PRP National Chairman, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, who spoke through the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Muhammed Ishaq, also said opposition leaders were working to strengthen their coalition ahead of the 2027 general elections.
In a statement on Wednesday, the party said Baba-Ahmed joined other opposition coalition leaders in a meeting with the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate and former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, at his residence on Tuesday.
The statement said the delegation met with Atiku and members of his campaign council as part of consultations among opposition parties and political leaders.
It said the meeting was ‘a source of tremendous inspiration’ to the delegation, adding that the coalition planned to engage other party leaders and candidates in the coming days.
‘Leaders of coalition parties, as well as others interested in joining, recognise the need to broaden and strengthen the coalition’s capacity to defeat the APC in 2027 and give Nigeria a new lease on life,’ the statement said.
On the reported arrests in Borno, the PRP condemned what it described as the treatment of citizens as ‘hostages’ and said the coalition would take up the matter.
‘The reported arrest in Borno State of young people wearing T-shirts bearing political messages is unequivocally condemned,’ the statement said.
‘Nigeria must not become a country where citizens are treated as hostages and released only when political conditions are met.’
The Borno chapter of the ADC has separately condemned the arrests, while Amnesty International has also criticised the detention.
The police have reportedly maintained that the case relates to alleged conduct capable of causing a breach of public peace, rather than merely the expression of a political opinion.