Supporters of Peter Obi are unrelenting in their attempt to blackmail and intimidate the Nigerian judiciary, specifically members of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, into handing them a favourable judgement despite presenting a case widely regarded as weak and without basis.
They are now threatening to ‘visit’ the business establishments of the individuals identified as children and relatives of judges serving on the Tribunal if Peter Obi is not declared the winner of an election in which he came a distant third.
Acting in obviously coordinated fashion, and veiling the threats with words such as ‘visit’ or ‘pass through their streets’, they have posted a series of menacing messages to X (formerly Twitter) threatening ‘consequences’ if the Tribunal fails to rule in favour of Obi.
This is coming days after they circulated a phone containing the little children of Justice Haruna Tsammani, the Chairman of the Tribunal, alongside a threat to bring harm to his family if he declines their demand for a favourable ruling.
They also recently sponsored the illegal erection of billboards and banners issuing a direct threat to the judiciary over the same concern of forcefully obtaining a favorable judgement for Peter Obi. Some of them got into legal trouble days back by spreading false reports that former Minister Babatunde Fashola was writing the judgement of the Tribunal with protection from the Nigerian Army.
The targeting of the family and relatives of the judges, including the threat to invade and destroy their business establishments, represents a dangerous escalation of the harassment of the country’s judiciary. Some Nigerians have queried the inability of the security agencies and the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) to act in the face of provocation and cyber-bullying.
Peter Obi, the man on whose account these threats have been made to judges and their relatives, has ignored several prompts to call his supporters to order.