A human rights organization under the aegis of Centre for Human Rights and Social Justice (CHRSJ), has strongly condemned the Friday invasion of the Ekiti State House of Assembly by the men of the Department of State Security Service(DSS) which lead to the abduction of the four members of the Assembly, thereby whisking them away to Federal Capital Territory(FCT), saying that the Security operatives action was height of State kidnapping and it was unacceptable to the good people of the country.
The rights group also declared that the action of the Security operatives in order to intimidate and force the lawmakers to sign the impeachment notice of Governor Ayodele Fayose, was out rightly condemnable and as well caused a great stigma for the Country in the eyes of the international community as immature and intolerable democratic naion.
Reacting to the issue,in a signed statement by the CHRSJ’s Executive Chairman, Comrade Adeniyi, Alimi Sulaiman, which a copy was made available to newsmen in Lagos on Sunday, called for the unconditional release of the Assembly members that were whisked away by the security agents to the Federal Capital Territory(FCT), Abuja with no just cause than being lawmakers of the opposition political party in the land, demanding for unreserved public apology from the Federal Government led by General Muhammadu Buhari(rtd) and authority of the Department of State Security Service(DSS) to the good people of Ekiti State including the State Assembly for causing psychological trauma for them.
Comrade Sulaiman warned General Buhari as a former Military dictator, against returning the democratic Nigeria to the dark days of Military era where life was brute and shortish, describing the development as shocking, evil, unconstitutional, ungodly, anti-masses, immoral, undemocratic, illegal, abomination and anathema which it should not be allowed to stand by genuine democratic elements in the land .
Rights activist noted that using the State apparatus to intimidate the political opponents was a height of political intolerance which was against the democratic ethos in any clime of the world, insisting that the alleged invasion and abduction of the Ekiti Assembly was witch-hunting, ill-conceived, infantile and politically motivated.
According to Sulaiman, “It is shocking to hear that after uninterrupted sixteen years of democracy in Nigeria, the security operatives can still be the tool in the hands of ruling Federal Government under General Muhamadu Buhari (rtd) watch, for height of political criminality and persecution against political opponents. This is a condemnable development which should not be allowed to stand the test of the time by the democrats as Nigeria will not condone the ongoing dictatorial tendencies of the present administration in the land”.
It will recall that the Speaker of the Ekiti State Hosue Assembly,Rt. Honourable Kolawole Oluwawole at a media conference on Saturday ,alleged that “More than 10 DSS men, armed to the teeth, invaded the Assembly Complex, shooting sporadically into the air, thereby causing panic among members and staff of the House of Assembly, who had to scamper to safety and at the end of the commotion, we discovered that four of our members could not be found.
“Alleging that the abduction was a script by the Federal Government and All Progressives Congress(APC) to detain top functionaries of the Ekiti State government, particularly the Assembly members to coerce them into signing an already prepared notice of impeachment of the governor and his deputy, because of Governor Ayodele Fayose’s critical stance on the President Buhari’s anti-masses policies”.
CHRSJ boss therefore tutored President Muhamadu Buhari on the ethics of democracy which guided by the rule of law as stipulated in the amended 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, not rule of might which stipulated in the Military Decrees during the dark days of Military era in Nigeria, adding that the Federal Government under Buhari should respect the principles of rule of law that is fairness, equity, justice and egalitarian society.
