chidi opara reports investigation have revealed that since the list of the group of more than fifty-five Nigerians who are signatories to a petition requesting the President to resign on account of ill health was released, the ranks of the activists have been subjected to enormous pressure.
The first pressure we learnt came from the security services. The State Security Service(SSS) and the National Intelligence Agency(NIA), immediately after the release of the list reportedly dug up dossiers of some of the signatories living in Nigeria and abroad. "Those with skeletons in their files were contacted and they are co-operating with us", an NIA operative, who is also a Diplomat in one of Nigeria's foreign missions told a group of Diplomats recently, one of whom now volunteers for chidi opara reports.
Another pressure, according to our information came from the national leadership of the President's party, the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP). We learnt on good authority that some of the signatories who are members of the party were asked "to withdraw or forget about political positions and patronages under PDP governments across the country".
Pressure we also learnt came from the traditional Institution. Some signatories, especially those from the North have reportedly been approached by some influential first class traditional rulers to withdraw or risk ostracization from their communities.
chidi opara reports however discovered that some of the signatories who were approached stood their ground. A retired Yoruba army officer reportedly told a first class Oba to "stay away from this type of matter", when summoned by the flamboyant rich first class traditional ruler.
