Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayo Fayose, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) yesterday condemned the invasion and sealing-off of the Abuja and Sokoto homes of the immediate past National Security Adviser (NSA), Col Sambo Dasuki (rtd) by men of the Department of State Services (DSS).
However, the standoff at Dasuki’s residence continued into the second day yesterday as personnel of the DSS maintained their siege on the property at John Kadiya Street in Asokoro District of Abuja. Four trucks with fully armed DSS operatives had stormed the residence on Thursday evening seeking to “see” Dasuki, who refused to let them in, reportedly, after sensing the operatives were on a mission to arrest him.
It was gathered that the operation was alleged to be in connection with the secret probe into how billions of naira allocated to the war against terrorism was spent. A source close to Dasuki said the operatives “took away all the cars in the house including that of his wife, his worker and visitors away after which they drove their own vehicles inside”.
Speaking against the backdrop of the siege, Fayose said: “persecution of PDP stalwarts and others perceived as opposed to the All Progressives Congress (APC) Federal Government is an ominous sign of imminent return of dictatorship and draconian rule in Nigeria.”
The governor, who said he still believed that the invasion of Col. Dasuki’s homes may not have the backing of President Muhammadu Buhari, said: “If this is being done by some people to please the president, he should check the excesses of those behind it and call them to other because overzealousness by those that are close to the president is inimical to the image of the government.”
In a statement issued in Ado-Ekiti yesterday by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Fayose said he was sad that democracy was already being put on trial, less than two months that President Buhari assumed office.
“Rather than invading homes of Nigerians and putting people under house arrest, the govern-ment should invade Boko Haram territories and arrest the insurgents,” he said. Fayose, who also condemned the “persecution” of Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, said: “the desperate plot to remove Senator Ekweremadu from office is dangerous to democratic rule in Nigeria because there is no portion of the Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution that made positions of Senate President and Deputy Senate President the exclusive rights of the political party with highest number of senators.” He said: “President Buhari should rather keep Boko Haram under house arrest, not opposition party members. Those heavily armed security men that invaded Dasuki’s Abuja and Sokoto homes should have been put to a better use by sending them to the Boko Haram ravaged North- Eastern part of Nigeria.
“The president should keep the rising exchange rates of Dollar, Pound Sterling, Euro and other foreign currencies under house arrest. He should pay attention to governance, be guided by the rule of law and be for everyone and for nobody as he promised when he was sworn into office.”
The governor asked; “Was there any invitation by the DSS to Col. Dasuki that he refused to honour? Isn’t it worrisome that in this democratic age, security agents could in a commando-like invade the house of a former NSA to carry out his arrest when there is no record that he was invited and he refused to honour the invitation, or that he resisted arrest? “Could Col. Dasuki’s present ordeal be as a result of his advice that the presidential election be postponed? “Is this not an indication of an impending clampdown on PDP members and other Nigerians perceived not to be on the same page with the President Buhari-led APC government?
We in the PDP supported our party during the presidential election like every other loyal party members should do, should this display of support for our party and its candidate now warrant persecution by the Federal Government? “If Col.Dasuki actually committed any offence to warrant his arrest and questioning by the DSS or any of the country’s security agencies, shouldn’t warrant of arrest have been issued against him? Shouldn’t he have been invited by the DSS instead of invading his houses and sealing them off in a commando- liked manner?” However, an online news portal, TheCable, reported yesterday that Dasuki refused to surrender to operatives of the DSS, who were trying to “forcibly arrest” him. Journalists were said to have been camped outside the gate as the stand-off continued.
After forcibly gaining entrance into his compound, the operatives moved out all the vehicles and moved in with theirs in an operation led by an officer whose name was simply given as “Dodo” from Katsina, the home state of President Buhari. The operatives had also on Thursday searched the Sokoto property of his father, Ibrahim Dasuki, the former sultan of Sokoto, and made away with documents. The operatives, according to TheCable, said they were looking for arms and counter-terrorism documents from the former NSA’s residence.
Although they produced a search warrant, they did not, however, have an arrest warrant, sources told TheCable. Following this, Dasuki was said to have insisted that he would not surrender to the DSS operatives because he believes there was no “legal basis” for what they are doing, said the publication. Dasuki was officially relieved of his position on Tuesday, but he was taken unawares by the DSS which stormed his residence and made away with files and documents.
It was also gathered that Dasuki remained in virtual house arrest following the raid by DSS. Dasuki was not even allowed to leave his house to observe the Eid-el-Fitr prayers, and was equally disallowed from receiving visitors, as the SSS has kept all visitors at bay. Commenting on the incident, the PDP decried what it called political persecution of former aides of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan by the APC-led Federal Government.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, who said this yesterday in Abuja, after he was denied access to Dasuki’s residence by men of DSS, said it was against the tenets of democracy. Metuh who arrived at the residence of former NSA at about 12: 55p.m. yesterday, described Dasuki’s restricted movement as illegal and unconstitutional. “I came into Abuja today because I read the situation about the invasion of the house of the former NSA and his detention and house arrest. So, I drove to his house as a personal friend to see him and to find out what is happening.
Then about seven or eight security operatives came out and they said that I cannot see him because the house is under security watch. And I asked them, security watch in terms of treason or terrorism? And they said they are not in a position to say,” the PDP spokesperson said. He added that it is a breach of fundamental human rights of anybody to be denied his freedom of movement, arguing that Nigerians were getting scared of President Buhari’s style of governance.
“They voted for the president and he was duly elected. And now he is the father of the nation, he is the father of everyone. He is not serving any other interest. But there are certain activities by some of his aides and people around him; it is like they are taking us back to the military era where we were coming from. “The last time this happened was under the military.
There has never been any situation where people will be held against their will. It is completely against his fundamental human rights. And we should be careful here because this was how it started in Zimbabwe and other countries. Before you know it we have a dictatorship. You cannot scare us,” Metuh warned.
He wondered whether the persecution was because PDP lost the presidential election, but added that what the party lost was an election but not war. Metuh noted: “We are not prisoners of war and we should not be treated like prisoners of war. What we demand is that we deserve the respect; there is rule of law. “We will not condone corrupt activities or any other unlawful or illegal act. If anybody has committed anything against the laws of Nigeria, let him be invited, let there be investigation. If there is a warrant of arrest or a judge can rule that he should be detained. But the fact that you shroud things in mystery and you invade someone’s house, occupy his house and detain him against his will. It is an anathema in democracy.”
He lamented a situation where those who served under former President Jonathan were singled out for persecution. Apart from him, attempt by a couple who visited the house to gain entry was politely rebuffed by security operatives at the gate. The couple came in a fawn coloured Kia Saloon car at 12:33 and left at 12:35. Similarly, HURIWA condemned without reservations “the reported invasion and Gestapo operations at the homes of Dasuki on the alleged directives from the Presidency.”
In a statement last night by the National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs Director, Miss Zainab Yusuf, HURIWA called on President Buhari to “respect the democratic and civilised tenets of principle of rule of law and follow due process and constitutional format in seeking to redress any alleged abuse of authority by any top government officials in the immediate past administration.”
In another development, there was no visible security presence around the Abuja residence of Dasuki yesterday between the hours of 4: 25p.m. and 5: 20p.m., when Saturday Telegraph visited. When Saturday Telegraph visited the John Kadiya Street, where the house lies between Oyo and Akwa Ibom states Governors’ Lodges, the black gate of the mansion was firmly locked, with no security vehicle or personnel seen outside. Also, there was nothing unusual around the house, as there was free movement of cars and people through the former NSA’s home.
A police officer around the area, who spoke briefly with Saturday Telegraph on condition of anonymity, said: “I saw some of your colleagues some hours ago. There is nothing happen here to suggest the enquiry you are making. I can speak about now that I resumed duties on this street; I have not seen any siege around here.”
There was, however, no response when Saturday Telegraph knocked on the massive gate cautiously. A security guard just few metres away from Dasuki’’ home, said he was not aware of any unusual security presence on the street since he resumed. Saturday Telegraph later understood that the operation has been called off and that the former NSA was no longer under house arrest. An online newspaper, Premium Times, yesterday reported that the Director General of the DSS, Mr. Lawal Daura, had denied reports of invasion of Dasuki’s house by his personnel.
The online newspaper quoted Daura as saying that: “I am not aware of any siege. What we are doing is celebrating Sallah and not carrying out any siege or house arrest.” Meanwhile, although it’s not clear what his offences are, it was gathered that the move to arrest him may be related to his handling of some funds deployed to quell the Boko Haram insurgency in the former President Jonathan’s administration.
No comments:
Post a Comment