Top Nigerian Opposition Leader Assassinated

Home>>World

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, March 05, 2003

Top Nigerian Opposition Leader Assassinated

Harry Marshall, a top Nigerian opposition leader, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen on Wednesday in the country's capital of Abuja, sources from his party said.

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

Harry Marshall, a top Nigerian opposition leader, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen on Wednesday in the country's capital of Abuja, sources from his party said.

Marshall, a senior official from the All Nigeria People's Party(ANPP), was killed in the early hours of Wednesday at his home, said Nnamdi Olebara, ANPP's national publicity secretary.

Though he was assassinated, Olebara said the planned ANPP campaign billed for Port Harcourt on Saturday would still go ahead and the ANPP presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari would travel to the southern city as schedule to attend the campaign rally organized by the late Marshall.

Buhari is widely considered a most challenging opponent of incumbent President Olusegun Obasanjo who sought re-election in the presidential elections scheduled for April.

"We can only be fuelled and reinforced to continue the good battle he started and close all loopholes, all attempts to stop uswill definitely fail."

As a new political party founded last year by some former senior members of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) including Buhari and the late Marshall, the ANPP is regarded as a powerful opposition party challenging the ruling PDP at general, state and presidential elections to be held in April.

According to Olebara, the ANPP will stage a protest to Aso rock,the Inspector-General of Police and, hereafter, address a world press conference to alert the world on the inherent dangers in thepolity.

He lamented that in the last couple of weeks, many ANPP candidates and stalwarts were killed by unknown gunmen with PDP controlled government doing nothing to track down the killers.

The late Marshall, a native of the southern state of Rivers, was described by Olebara as "a political stalwart, a leader, courageous, and highly dependable."

"I must confess we have lost a gem, a political colossus, whosedeath was an irreparable loss to the entire ANPP family," he said.

As the general, state and presidential elections are approaching, recent months have witnessed a number of political factions fighting across the most populous African country.

Questions?Comments? Click here

Interview: Why Does China Start Lunar Exploration Program? ( 5 Messages)

China-ASEAN Economic Cooperation Upgraded ( 19 Messages)

New Type of Nuclear Reactor Put into Use in Beijing ( 3 Messages)

Will Russian Oil Pipeline Lead to China or Japan? ( 23 Messages)

China's GDP Hit 1.23 Trillion US Dollars in 2002: NBS ( 4 Messages)

UAE Appeal on Saddam's Fate Draws Mixed Reactions ( 3 Messages)