{"id":47218,"date":"2016-03-05T21:15:17","date_gmt":"2016-03-05T20:15:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=47218"},"modified":"2016-03-05T21:15:17","modified_gmt":"2016-03-05T20:15:17","slug":"ekiti-house-raises-alarm-dss-invasion-assembly-abduction-members","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/ekiti-house-raises-alarm-dss-invasion-assembly-abduction-members\/","title":{"rendered":"Ekiti House raises alarm over DSS invasion of Assembly, abduction of members"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Ekiti State House of Assembly, at the weekend, cried out over the
\ninvasion of the Assembly complex on Friday<\/span><\/span> by operatives of the
\nDepartment of State Services (DSS) and abduction of some of its
\nmembers, warning that it would not condone dictatorial tendencies in
\nthe current democratic era.<\/p>\n

The House raised the alarm at a press conference addressed by the
\nSpeaker, Right Honourable (Pastor) Kola Oluwawole; his deputy, Right
\nHonourable Segun Adewumi; chairman of House Committee on Health, Dr
\nBabajide Omotoso, and other House members that were not affected by
\nthe DSS abduction, on Saturday<\/span><\/span>.<\/p>\n

In a statement at the briefing, Pastor Oluwawole condemned the manner
\nin which the DSS operatives stormed the Assembly complex, at about
\n3.00 p.m.<\/span><\/span>, on Friday<\/span><\/span>, shooting sporadically into the sky and sending
\nstaff and members scampering for safety, after which four of the
\nlegislators around were taken to an unknown whereabouts.<\/p>\n

A statement by the chairman of the House Committee on Information,
\nChief Olugboyega Aribisogan, which detailed the development, added
\nthat various committee members of the House were having meetings
\nconnected with their oversight functions at the time of the incident.<\/p>\n

He said it was after more than six hours that one of the affected
\nlawmakers, Honourable Akanni Afolabi, representing Efon constituency,
\nwas able to contact his colleagues, disclosing that he was whisked to
\nAbuja by the security men, adding that the whereabouts of the
\nremaining three legislators was yet to be known.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have called you here to intimate the public through your various
\nmedia, the clandestine plot by the President Mohammadu Buhari-led All
\nProgressives Congress (APC) Federal Government to destabilise the
\nEkiti State government, using the instrumentalities of the Department
\nof State Services (DSS).<\/p>\n

\u201cYesterday, the House of Assembly chamber was invaded by armed men of
\nthe DSS, not minding that various committees of the House were
\nmeeting. More than 10 DSS men who were armed to the teeth invaded the
\nAssembly complex, shooting sporadically into the air, thereby causing
\npanic among members and staff of the House of Assembly, who had to
\nscamper for safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the commotion created by this barbaric act, we
\ndiscovered that four of our members could not be found. It was only
\nthis morning that we were able to establish that Honourable Afolabi
\nAkanni, representing Efon Constituency, was abducted and taken to
\nAbuja. Whereabouts of three other members is still unknown as we
\nspeak, and reasons for the invasion and abduction of our members are
\nnot known,\u201d he lamented.<\/p>\n

Oluwawole laid the blame of the invasion and abduction of his
\ncolleagues at the door step of the Federal Government, induced by the
\nAPC, vowing that their known plot to \u201charass and intimidate\u201d the
\nPeoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led government in the state would never
\nwork.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, we got it on good authority that the script now being acted
\nby the DSS is part of the APC and President Buhari\u2019s clandestine plot
\nto cripple the Ekiti State Government by arresting and detaining top
\nfunctionaries of the government. The plot is to harass, intimidate and
\nembarrass top officials of the Ayodele Fayose-led government because
\nof his critical stance on the Buhari-led government.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are aware that 18 of our members have been penciled in for
\nharassment and the game plan is to harass them to submission, with a
\nview to coercing them into signing an already prepared notice of
\nimpeachment of the governor and his deputy.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, we wish to inform those orchestrating the harassment and
\nintimidation of officials of the Ekiti State government, especially
\nhonourable members of the State House of Assembly that this is 2016
\nand not 2006. The same tactics used 10 years ago to truncate democracy
\nin Ekiti State will not work this time,\u201d Oluwawole added.<\/p>\n

He maintained that the House would never make itself available for
\nanyone to destabilize a democratically-elected government in the
\nstate, adding that the DSS drama that played out in Akwa Ibom State
\nlast year shrouded in secrecy was what was being re-enacted in Ekiti
\nState.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe, therefore, wish to tell the APC agents of political instability
\nthat this time around, this House of Assembly will not be available
\nfor any ungodly use. We also wish to remind Nigerians of how in
\nSeptember last year, the Federal Government invaded the Akwa Ibom
\nState Government House with armed men of the DSS.<\/p>\n

\u201cUp till today, Nigerians are yet to be told officially why, in a
\nfederal system of government in which federating units enjoy some
\ndegree of autonomy, the Government House occupied by a governor who
\nenjoys the same immunity enjoyed by the President as provided by the
\n1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was invaded by
\narmed men of the DSS.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we are not afraid of persecution from anyone or government
\nagency, including the DSS, we wish to state that the level at which
\nthe Buhari-led Federal Government is taking political vendetta and
\nmuzzling of opposition both in the Peoples PDP and within the APC is
\ndangerous to the survival of democracy in the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cNigeria is not a banana republic that can be ruled anyhow by anyone
\nand Mr Lawal Daura (from Katsina) and his men, who are playing exactly
\nthe same role played between 1984 and 1985 by the National Security
\nOrganisation (NSO) under Lawal Rafindadi (from Katsina) should know
\nthat this reign of brute force over constitutional democracy will
\nfail. This is because we have seen them operate before and here they
\nare now, trying to take us back to that inglorious era of dictatorship
\nand barbarism where the DSS (then NSO) was used to oppress Nigerians,
\nthrowing them in jail without trial. This time around, we are in a
\ndemocracy that can never accommodate that 1984 era of draconian rule.<\/p>\n

\u201cLastly, let it be reiterated once again that this House of Assembly
\nis a partner in the progress of the Ekiti State government under the
\nable leadership of Governor Peter Ayodele Fayose. Therefore, the
\nAbuja-based agents of destabilisation should get it into their heads
\nthat we will never be harassed or intimidated into buying into their
\nsinister agenda,\u201d the Speaker said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Ekiti State House of Assembly, at the weekend, cried out over the invasion of the Assembly complex on Friday by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\nEkiti House raises alarm over DSS invasion of Assembly, abduction of members - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/ekiti-house-raises-alarm-dss-invasion-assembly-abduction-members\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ekiti House raises alarm over DSS invasion of Assembly, abduction of members - 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