Fayose berates DSS over PDP ex-governorship aspirant, Gbadamosi’s arrest
Ekiti State Governor and Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP) Governors’ Forum, Mr Ayodele Fayose has condemned the arrest and
detention of a former governorship aspirant of the party in Lagos
State, Babatunde Olalere Gbadamosi, by operatives of Department of
State Security (DSS), describing the arrest and detention as a
continuation of the tyranny and barbarism of the All Progressives
Congress (APC) led government.
The governor, who decried the unwarranted arrest of Nigerians for
merely expressing themselves on social media, warned that “nothing
must happen to Mr Gbadamosi because up till today, the DSS has not
told Nigerians why he (Gbadamosi) was arrested and being kept
incommunicado, without access to his wife and doctor.”
In a statement issued on Saturday by is Special Assistant on Public
Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose said the
DSS must begin to act responsibly by desisting from treating Nigerians
as if the country was under military dictatorship, adding that; “It is
only in a banana republic that someone will honour invitation of
security agency, only for him to be bundled into any available plane
and moved from Lagos to Abuja without telling anyone what his offences
were.”
He called for immediate release of Mr Gbadamosi, whom he described as
a prominent and law abiding Nigerians that has contributed immensely
to the economy of the country, saying; "If they have any issue with
him, let the DSS charge him to court."
The governor maintained that it was worrisome that the DSS has turned
itself to an instrument of oppressor that is more interested in
bullying any Nigerian who writes on social media against the APC led
government than securing the country and its people.
Governor Fayose, who called on the international community, especially
the Amnesty International to beam its searchlights on activities of
the DSS, said; “So many Nigerians are languishing in the DSS detention
across the country, with many of them being detained for as long as 18
months.
“For instance, the head of Nigeria's Islamic Movement (IMN), Ibrahim
El-Zakzaky, has been in detention since December 2015 despite that the
court ruled that he should be released. Leader of the Indigenous
People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu has been in detention since
October 2015 while former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col Sambo
Dasuki (rtd) has remained in DSS detention since December 2015.
“This to me is unacceptable under a democratic government and the
international community must save Nigeria and its people from this
tyranny.”