From Atiku Sarki, Abuja
Some delegates and other participants at the just concluded National Convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC) held at the Eagle Square Abuja on Friday suffered tear-gas by the security personnel during the convention.
At the early hours on Friday before the convention proper, movement in Federal Capital City of Abuja was restricted that many citizens could not carry out their normal businesses, while many suffered in tracking in a long distance as major roads leading to the venue were being blocked by the security agencies.
The offices of civil servants working at the Head of Civil Service, Federal Secretariat and National Assembly among other places were key and locked as it was announced on Thursday that no body should come to work on Friday.
Many delegates who spoke to The Triumph at the venue of the event, expressed their disappointment and the manner they found themselves insulted with the tear-gas thrown into their eyes by the security personnel, including the police and soldiers despite their valid accreditation tags on their necks.
They said: “Despite our accreditation tags at the event, we were treated badly by the security personnel at the entrance, denying us entry. “This is too bad, our country has a long way to go.”
Meanwhile, many media practitioners who came to cover the convention from various local, national and international outlets were left stranded for hours at the accreditation centre in the hotel premises of Transcorp Hilton in Abuja.
Despite the awaiting hours spent and the delayed to get the accreditation tags by the party’s media accreditation team, only few among many journalists could afford to have access to the tags.
Expressing their feelings and frustration over what they described as lack of “transparency and poor coordination” by the party committee coordinating accreditation for the media, many journalists claimed they had completed all necessary registration procedures well ahead of the event but were denied access to tags without clear explanations.
Eyewitnesses reported heated exchanges between members of the accreditation team and journalists, with some accusing officials of selectively issuing tags while others were ignored.
The situation created confusion and disrupted proper preparations for coverage of the party’s 8th National Convention in Abuja.
“We have done everything required, yet we are being treated unfairly,” one aggrieved journalist said.
“This process lacks professionalism and is hindering our ability to do our job,” he added.
Security personnel were deployed to maintain order as the crowd of journalists swelled.
Despite attempts to calm the situation, many media representatives continued to demand immediate intervention from senior APC officials.The incident had raised concerns about media access and the party’s preparedness to manage a major national emergency
to attract thousands of delegates, stakeholders, and observers from across Nigeria and beyond.