Following the alleged invasion of the Ekiti State House of Assembly and arrest of four lawmakers and appointees of Governor Ayodele Fayose by the Department of State Services, DSS, the Nigerian Bar Association and the organized labour have told President Muhammadu Buhari to stop acting like a dictator so that Nigeria’s democracy can survive.
A statement issued in Ado Ekiti, on Wednesday, by the state NBA Chairman, Dr Foluke Dada described the arrest and detention by the DSS as a sharp departure from the tenets of Democracy and a clear contravention of the Law setting up the Institution.
The statement reads, “Above all, the arrest is a clear contravention of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which the DSS is established to uphold at all times when discharging their duties.
“The NBA, mindful of the current fight against corruption, calls upon the authorities involved to uphold the Rule of Law. Hence, the Bar unequivocally condemns the forced entry into the hallowed chambers of the House and the arbitrary arrest of the lawmakers.
“The Branch, while condemning the Commando style of the Department of State Services, asks for the immediate disclosure of the whereabouts of the Law makers and ask that the offences upon which they were arrested be made public”.
On his part, Chairman of the Trade Union Congress in Ekiti, Comrade Odunayo Adesoye described as a dangerous trend that could expose workers of the state civil service to serious security risk. He stated that workers in the state are now apprehensive of what could happen at their duty posts due to anxiety created by the alleged invasion of the House by security agents.
Branding the action as ‘brutish and barbaric’, Adesoye said the arrests of the top government officials without any formal invitation was a flagrant infringement on their fundamental rights, as enunciated in the United Nations human rights’ charter .
Adesoye wondered why innocent Nigerians were being clamped into detention by DSS, while the criminals were having a field day, terrorizing and killing citizens on daily basis.
“Nigeria is a civilized country and I think it has gone beyond the level of this barbarism displayed by DSS. This is pure harassment of innocent Nigerians. As we speak now, workers are reporting to work with anxiety and apprehension that there could be invasion of their premises.
“The mere fact that the DSS had invaded the House posed serious threat to workers, because I learnt people had to run for their lives. What of if our members had died during the stampede.
“I think it is within the purview of the DSS to protect human rights, I will advise that they toe the line of civility and stop being partisan. If they have anything to confirm from these government officials, I think they have to be properly invited.
“We are sounding a note of warning that we would challenge the DSS should anything happens to any worker during the course of arresting officials of the state government,” he said.
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