A Delta State-based activist, Comrade Israel Joe was arrested by soldiers on Friday at the venue of a protest organised against the economic hardship in the country.

He was subsequently handed over to the police who are planning to charge him for terrorism, after accusing him of being behind a protest against hardship and high cost of living in the state.

A Delta State-based activist, Comrade Israel Joe was arrested by soldiers on Friday at the venue of a protest organised against the economic hardship in the country.

He was subsequently handed over to the police who are planning to charge him for terrorism, after accusing him of being behind a protest against hardship and high cost of living in the state.

he Command in the letter signed by CSP Ya’u Musa Kangiwa asked the activist to come along with at least two other executives of his team on Thursday.

The letter read in part, “I am directed by the Commissioner of Police, Delta State Command to invite you for a meeting. You are to come along with at least two (2) of your Exco. The Meeting is slated to hold as follows:

“On arrival, you are to contact ASP OMOKENI GREEN, the Station Officer, State Intelligence Department, to facilitate the said meeting. Your attendance in persons will be highly appreciated.

“Accept, as always, the assurances of the Commissioner of Police’s esteemed regards, please,” the statement added.

However, after the meeting with the police in Asaba on Thursday, Israel told SaharaReporters that the Deputy Director of the Department of State Services (DSS) in the state also met with him.

He said, “After meeting with the Nigerian Police on Thursday, I also honoured the DSS invitation. They do not want the protest, they said people are angry already, and that the protest can trigger insecurity in the state.

“I told them that I’m just a person, that I cannot stop the protest planner by the multitude, but told them that the protest was planned to be violence-free.”

Meanwhile, soldiers from the Nigerian Army 3 Battalion in Effurun, Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State, in the early hours Friday arrested Israel at the venue and took him away.

A source told SaharaReporters that the soldiers handed him over to police in Ekpan Station where they are planning to charge him for terrorism.

The source said, “The soldiers took him to Ekpan and handed him over to police there. Right now, Israel is in their custody.

“The police are planning to charge him for terrorism for instigating a protest.”