The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the arrest and detention of some judges by the Department of State Service (DSS) as a descent to fascism.

Describing the swoop on the judges as Gestapo-like invasion, the opposition party deplored the invasion of the homes of the judges of the Supreme Court and the Federal High Court.

A statement yesterday by the spokesman of the Caretaker Committee of the PDP, Prince Dayo Adeyeye said, “Sometime in the early hours of October 8th, 2016, men of the  Department of State Service (DSS) carried out Gestapo like invasions  on the homes of a number of Justices of the Supreme Court of Nigeria  and the Federal High Court.

“The affected Justices of the Supreme Court were, Sylvanus Ngwuta and Inyang Okoro. The affected Judges of the Federal High Court were Muazu  Pindiga, Adeniyi Ademola, Abdullahi Liman and Nnamdi Dimgba.

“At this time, Justices Ngwuta and Okoro of the Supreme Court and  Justices Adeniyi and Pindiga had been abducted and detained. Justice Dimgba only escaped abduction because he was not at home at the time.  Justice Abdullahi’s abduction was prevented by the timely intervention of Governor Nyesom Wike, who insisted on the observance of the rule of law and the application of due process.

“Governor Nyesome Wike was assaulted by the men of the DSS during his intervention, causing him to sustain injuries on his arm. At a point, an officer pointed a fully cocked gun at him and threatened to shoot him.

“The invasion was carried out between 0100hrs and 0500hrs in the early morning using hundreds of fully armed men of the DSS. During the invasion, the Justices were manhandled and members of their families as well as their household staff beaten up”.

The PDP described the invasion as the latest in a series of actions taken by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, which it said, revealed its disregard for the rule of law and its abject disdain for the principle of separation of powers.