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Nigeria's main opposition candidate claims intimidation

Nigeria

Nigeria’s main opposition party leader Atiku Abubakar claims he was intimidated by state agents at Abuja airport when he arrived from Dubai on Sunday.

“I arrived this morning at the Abuja airport, where I was searched by state agents, who were intended to intimidate me and my team,” the candidate wrote Sunday on Twitter .

In a statement, his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), strongly condemned the “cowardice” of the army, police, and para-military agencies to attack its presidential candidate. It accusing the presidency of giving these orders.

“They rushed on our candidate immediately after he landed and tried to obstruct his movements as they invaded his private jet to carry out searches with violence,” the statement said. The statement pointed out that they did not find anything there but that they seized some of his campaign documents.

I arrived to Abuja this morning to a search by agents of the state, aimed at intimidating me and my staff.

I am committed to building a Nigeria where no citizen is intimidated by agents of state who are paid to protect them.

Together, #LetsGetNigeriaWorkingAgain.

— Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) November 11, 2018

In an interview with the international press, the PDP’s candidate said he was worried about tensions over the presidential campaign.

The former Vice President between between 1999 to 2007, will contest the current President Muhammadu Buhari in February 2019.

AFP

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