Lawyers, others: it’s against rule of law
Navy ‘not involved’
THERE was outrage yesterday over weekend’s raid on the All Progressives Congress (APC) Data Centre in Ikeja, Lagos by Department of State Security (DSS) operatives.
The DSS-led team, including men in military uniform, smashed its way into the opposition party’s data office, took away some of the computers being used for membership data collation and arrested 28 people, 25 of who were freed yesterday.
Three of those arrested – Messrs Chinedu Auche, Olaposi Fayemi – computer operators and Chika an IT support worker – were still in custody of securitymen as at press time last night.
The Navy yesterday denied any role in the invasion.
A statement on behalf of the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) Western Naval Command (WNC), Rear Admiral Sanmi Alade, by information officer Lt.-Commander Abdusallam Sanni, reiterated the Navy’s neutrality in political issues.
It said: “The Nigerian Navy is a non-partisan organisation and does not meddle in politics. The Navy has not deployed any of its personnel to any political party’s office.
“However, we have commenced investigation and the video footage alleged is being carefully studied to ascertain those behind the said incident.
”I want to assure you that the Nigerian Navy has zero tolerance for indiscipline and unruly behaviours to the general public. If confirmed that Nigerian Navy personnel are involved in this undesirable behaviours they will be sanctioned and appropriate punishment will be awarded.”
DSS spokesperson Ms. Marilyn Ogar, in an sms yesterday, said a petition alleged that the Independent National Electoral Commission’s permanent voter’s cards were being cloned at the outfit.
According to Ogar, the petition alleged that the “cloning” of the cards was with the intention of hacking into INEC’s data base, corrupting it and replacing them with the “cloned” data.
The statement said in part: “A petition was received by this Service about some activities at No. 10, Bola Ajibola Street, Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos.
“Based on this information, the Service placed the building under surveillance; and having been convinced that some unwholesome activities were going on in the building, it undertook a raid of the premises.
“In the process, some persons were arrested while a server, three hard drives, and 31 Ghana must go bags of hard copy documents were recovered and taken away for further investigation.
“It must be noted that the said location had no sign post indicating whether it was a private or government office.”
The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) said the recurring clampdown on the opposition or those with dissenting views has lent credence to the allegation of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo that a killer squad was being put in place in the country.
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, the CNPP asked President Goodluck Jonathan to save the nation’s democracy.
The statement said: “The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP ) calls on the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and the Department of Security Service (DSS) to Save Our Democracy.
“We are making this clarion call based on our understanding that the NPF, DSS and indeed state security agencies, be it the Army, Navy, Air Force, Road Safety, Civil Defence, as a whole are veritable institutions of democracy; without which no democracy can survive.
“Which means that no democracy can survive without security agencies, devoted patriotically to promote, protect and defend the rule of law; we are therefore at a loss of how the Inspector General of Police and the Director General of Department of Security Service are violently descending into the political arena.
“Few days ago it was the NPF against all known ethics that in a barbaric manner unethically engaged in double standard, by opening the gate for the Deputy Speaker and locking out the Speaker and spraying him with tear gas at the National Assembly.
“Yesterday it was the officers and men of the DSS who ransacked the Data-Centre of the All Progressives Congress (APC), destroying equipment and the Membership Data of the party.”
The CNPP said it was unclear if the nest of killers, which ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo warned about, had started prowling the country.
The statement added: “Tomorrow who knows their target? For we have not forgotten that ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo had warned us against the nest of killers in the hands of Mr President and his men.
“Ironically these are the same security agencies three months after showing the world the master-mind of the 23rd July, 2014 attempt on General Muhammadu Buhari’s life are yet to make public their findings.
“CNPP is worried that voter apathy, voter disquiet and voter unhappiness are on the increase election after election as a result of citizens distrust emanating from the bad habit of officials of the state security services who unabashedly demonstrate partisanship.
“In sum, we call on President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, to as a matter of urgent national importance, sack the Inspector General of Police and the Director-General of State Security Service, in order to absolve himself of the insinuations gaining ground that he is manipulating the security services for personal political gain.”
The Lagos State chapter of the APC described the raid as “a bestial expression of the dangerous desperation with which the PDP wants to retain after wrecking the country and leaving it prostrate in 16 years of tragic misrule”.
In a statement by the Lagos State Publicity Secretary Joe Igbokwe, the party said the teleguided security men not only vandalised the data centre, they arrested 25 staffers. The party warned that Nigeria is at the very precincts of a brute, callous and dangerous era occasioned by the deadly means a party that has failed Nigeria and humanity strives to retain power at all costs.
“We understood that the raid on our facility was intended to spread fear, intimidation and dread among our teeming members and supporters, we assure that we will remain unfazed in our determination to accede to the popular demand of Nigerians to lead the task to salvage Nigeria from the corrupt, visionless, inept and callous rule of the PDP and the Jonathan government.
“We note that the PDP continues from one case of impunity to the other as it continues to grapple with Nigerians’s rejection of its horrible governance. We note the PDP has decided to launder fear, intimidation and ennui all over Nigeria in its inordinate desire to force Nigerians to continue with its ruinous governance but we warn that the PDP, by these acts, is sowing the seeds of danger and chaos. We warn that Nigerians will start resisting the brutality of the PDP in our collective determination to end the PDP misrule.
“We know the brutal attack and destruction meted out on our data centre by agents of the PDP/Jonathan government was borne out of the fear of the PDP for the unknown but we warn that such brutal affront on the rights of Nigerians to carry out their legitimate businesses will lead to unsavoury reactions that will not bode well for the Nigerian polity.
“Coming after the unsuccessful bid to remove the Speaker of the House of Representatives through illegal police action and the sponsoring of direct attack aimed at a takeover of the Ekiti State House of Assembly by seven out of 26 members of the Assembly, we see PDP’s increasing resort to foul and illegal means as capable of destroying the fragile Nigerian democracy.
“The unwarranted attack on our data centre should warn Nigerians that the PDP and the government it is running is determined to adopt every foul means to muzzle Nigerians into silence as it plots to stay put in the power it had grossly misused for 16 years.
Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker Adeyemi Ikuforiji condemned the invasion .
In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Rotimi Adebayo, Ikuforiji said: “ The unprovoked and needless forcible invasion of the Information Technology Centre of the office of the Lagos State Chapter of our party, the All Progrssives Congress, A.P.C., by agents of the State Security Service has come to my notice and the entire members of the Lagos State House of Assembly with total shock and disbelief..”
“It is quite disturbing, unfortunate and dangerous that such needless invasion of another arm of government approved by the nation’s constitution is now being messed up by men of the security services who are being paid salaries by the nation, and whose duty is to protect lives and property…
“Is it not embarrassing that our security forces are being abused to act as an arm of the People’s’ Democratic Party, P.D.P, the ruling party in our country, today instead of facing their assigned duty of protection of lives and property ?
“It is very sad and unfortunate. It will, therefore, be in the overall interest of our nation’s democracy for the security forces to tread softly and resist the attempt by the ruling P.D.P to use them as its security arm. Should this illegality and brigandage persist, it may portend grave dangers for our fledgling democracy”, the Speaker said.
