Members of Ekiti State House of Assembly have demanded an unreserved<\/p>\n
apology from the Department of State Services (DSS) over the March 4,
\n2016 invasion of the House of Assembly and unlawful detention of a
\nmember of the House, representing Efon Constituency, Hon Afolabi
\nAkanni for 18 days, threatening to seek redress and damages in court<\/p>\n
The lawmakers, who described the act of impunity by the DSS under
\nPresident Mohammadu Buhari as undemocratic, unpatriotic, dictatorial
\nand brutish, also demanded a thorough medical examination of Hon.
\nAkanni, saying; \u201cwe fear that his health and general well-being could
\nhave been compromised while in the DSS custody.\u201d<\/p>\n
Addressing the press today, Chairman of the House Committee on
\nInformation, Hon. Gboyega Aribisogan, who was flanked by the Speaker,
\nRt. Hon. Kola Oluwawole, Deputy Speaker; Hon Segun Adewumi and 16
\nothers, said the DSS must explain to Nigerians whether in a democracy,
\nit was part of the its mandate to disobey court orders and dump
\nNigerians in detention for 18 days on unfounded allegations.<\/p>\n
The statement read in full; \u201cYesterday, we read online like other
\nNigerians that our member, representing Efon Constituency, Hon Afolabi
\nAkanni who has been in the Department of State Services (DSS)
\ndetention in Abuja since March 4 was on admission at a private
\nhospital in Abuja.<\/p>\n
\u201cUp till this moment, we have not been told officially by the DSS
\nwhether or not Hon Akanni was formally released from incarceration
\nafter spending 18 days without access to his doctors, lawyers and
\nfamily members.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, preliminary information available to us suggests that Hon
\nAkanni may have been brought to the hospital by men of the DSS and
\nabandoned there because they could no longer hold him in captivity
\nbecause of his deteriorating health condition.<\/p>\n
\u201cNigerians should be reminded that it took the rumour of Hon Akanni\u2019s
\ndeath for the DSS to admit officially that it was holding him after
\nspending 15 days in detention without access to anyone.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we speak, Hon Akanni is in very critical condition and he has not
\nbeen able to speak with anyone of us.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs reported in the media, Hon Akanni could only say that he was sick,
\nhe was not well when press men sought to speak with him yesterday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe therefore demand an official explanation from the DSS as to why
\nHon. Akanni was abducted and held incommunicado for 18 days, only for
\nus to be told that he was admitted at a private hospital in Abuja.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also demand a thorough medical examination of Hon. Akanni as we
\nfear that his health and general well-being could have been
\ncompromised while in the DSS custody.<\/p>\n
\u201cFurthermore, we demand an explanation from the DSS whether in a
\ndemocracy, it is part of the its mandate to disobey court orders and
\ndump Nigerians in detention for 18 DAYS on unfounded allegations.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost importantly, we condemn strongly the DSS illegal arrest,
\ndetention and dehumanisation of Hon Akanni and we demand an unreserved
\napology forthwith.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have also directed our counsel to seek redress and damages in
\ncourt because to us, this act of impunity by the DSS under President
\nMohammadu Buhari is undemocratic, unpatriotic, dictatorial and
\nbrutish.<\/p>\n
\u201cDetaining Nigerians for weeks without trial is a clear return of
\nDecree 2, with which President Buhari hounded Nigerians in detention
\nwhen he was a military dictator and we in the Ekiti State House of
\nAssembly will continue to support our leader and Governor, Peter
\nAyodele Fayose in his fight against tyranny.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wish to also alert the public that men of the DSS have been
\nvisiting schools attended by some of our members, in search of their
\nacademic records.<\/p>\n
\u201cThough we are not afraid of anyone or agency of government
\ninvestigating the academic background of our members, it is important
\nthat the DSS face its core mandate of gathering intelligence for the
\nsecurity of Nigeria and its people.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wish to advise the DSS to pay more attention to the growing
\ninsecurity in the country, instead of acting as an arm of the All
\nProgressives Congress (APC) to pursue the evil agenda of destabilising
\nthe Fayose-led government.<\/p>\n
\u201cLastly, we wish to reiterate our commitment to the development of
\nEkiti State, which is being championed committedly by Governor Ayodele
\nFayose and we state that no amount of intimidation and harassment will
\nmake us join the enemies of Ekiti, whose only interest is to grab
\npower for their personal gains.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Members of Ekiti State House of Assembly have demanded an unreserved apology from the Department of State Services (DSS) over the March 4, 2016 invasion of the House of Assembly…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47392,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n