The leadership of the youth parliament of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bauchi State today condemned Thursday’s attack by some hoodlums suspected to be loyalists of the party, on the Press Centre of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Bauchi State Council in Bauchi.
The youth parliament in a press release by its secretary dissociated itself from the attack, declaring that the perpetrators are not members of the youth wing of the party.
Suspected APC thugs stormed the Press Centre Thursday morning and disrupted a press conference being addressed by some factional chieftains of the party and injured two journalists in the process.
It took the intervention of the police led by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Mohammed Wakili, to restore peace and sanity at the Centre.
The incident led the leadership of the Union in the state to place a ban on coverage of the activities of the APC youth wing in the state.
In the release, the APC youth did not only condemn the attack but also dissociated themselves from it, saying it was carried out by some people masquerading as members of the party.
They stated that from the information available to them, the attack occurred dollowing a disagreement among some members of the party over money.
While stating that members of the youth wing of the party are law-abiding, the secretary called on members across the state to remain law-abiding and committed to the ideals of APC.
“We wish to condemn in strong terms and by the same token dissociate ourselves from the said disruption of the press conference purported to have happened at the NUJ secretariat, Bauchi.
“As featured in the reportage of some media outlets, the disruption was said to be a same party affair where a faction within the APC advocating the dissolution of state exco were attacked. But this is is a mere fabrication by unscrupulous people who masquerade as party members to discredit the hard earned reputation of the party faithfuls.
“The youths parliament gathered reliably that, it was a fight between some disgruntled elements within the party trying to share the money given to them to cause rancour within the party.
“In their attempt to collect part of the proceeds, the fight erupted. We the indefatigable APC youth parliament across the state are law-abiding By antecedent, we have never been found in such a shameful act and such will never be part of our character.
It is in the light of the above that we wish to reiterate our firm and unreserved support to the Bauchi State APC leadership under the able chairmanship of our undeterred leader, Hon. Alh. Uba Ahmad Nana (Garkuwan Ningi).
“We, therefore, call on the APC members across the state to maintain the tempo as law-abiding citizens and remain committed to the ideals of the party for the overall development of the state,” the secretary stated.