Invasion Of Nass: Huriwa Warns Govt On Perpetuation Of Impunity
A leading pro- democracy and civil rights organisation- HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has warned the Federal Government not to sweep under the carpet the serious treasonable conduct of the disgraced erstwhile Director General of the Department of state services (DSS) but to constitute an independent judicial commission of inquiry to be headed by a serving Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria to name those who took part in the show of shams and recommend them for appropriate legal sanctions.
HURIWA further restate her call for the dismissed Director General of DSS to be prosecuted for his large scale violations of the human rights of Nigerians including arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances of several unarmed members of the Indigenous people of Biafra (IPOB) and for many other claims of lawlessness committed by him.
HURIWA alleged that it has been informed by someone who is considerably knowledgeable of the workings of the inner sanctum of President Muhammadu Buhari's administration that there are systematic plots to reinstate the dismissed Director General of DSS back to the office or at most due to what they regard as political backclash that may result from the threat to resign by the then acting President if this is done, grant the sacked spymaster softlanding. HURIWA regretted that the current government has continued to perpetuate acts of lawlessness and impunity which will impact negatively on the health or otherwise of the nation's constitutional democracy. The group noted that members of the international community have already noticed that the current government encourages impunity and lawlessness.
HURIWA stated that from all available body of knowledge from the intelligence community, there is definitely a systematic design to let the erstwhile Director General of DSS off the hook just in the same fashion as was done to Abdulrasheed Maina the then fugitive graft suspect accused of multiblion pensions fraud by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission but who was reinstated by the Presidency but when it was exposed the accused fraudster who was reinstated and promoted was then fired even as the National Assembly investigated the Federal Attorney General in relation to the scandal but President Muhammadu Buhari has refused to sanction his top officials who were involved in this monumental scandal because the Attorney General of the Federation was quoted as saying that the meeting he held with the then fugitive pension fraud suspect Alhaji Maina un Dubai had the approval of his principal.
HURIWA in a statement by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs Director Miss Zainab Yusuf condenmed the sudden silence by President Muhammadu Buhari on the heavy and indeed grave danger to national security and constitutional democracy that the illegal action of invading the National Assembly by the hooded armed operatives of the DSS on the express order of the then Director General who was fired by the Acting President but has now been permitted to embark on public relations and propaganda activities to try to save his face and neck and to stave off public call for his prosecution and judicial sanctions in line with the laws of the land.
HURIWA said: "We learnt from an impeccable source with extensive contacts with the Presidency that President Muhammadu Buhari will not sanction the erstwhile Director General beyond the public announcements that was read out by the office of the then Acting President that ordered his removal. Even up until this morning, we were told that President Muhammadu Buhari is working on series of soft landing packages for his nephew Alhaji Lawan Daura the dismissed SpyMaster because it is generally known that the then head of DSS struck at the National Assembly with the Presidential approval. Any attempt to sweep under the carpets the grave offence of treasonable felony of attempting to take over the control of an arm of government which was what the 100 armed hooded operatives sent by the then DSS DG did will adversely offend the constitution of the land and could be an impeachable offence against the current President. This government must not be allowed to continue to expand the frontiers of impunity particularly in clear cases of abuse of power and office committed by trusted allies and appointees of President Muhammadu Buhari. This same President has for fifty five days refused to prosecute the Finance minister Kemi Adeosun alleged not to posses genuine exemption certificate from the NYSC and his Assistant on Prosecutiin Mr Obono Obla indicted by West African Examination Council of parading a fake certificate. This same President has yet to prosecute his first Secretary to his government Babachir Lawan indicted on multimillion Naira fraud from the North East redevelopment fund and has also gathered politically exposed persons indicted in Multibillion Naira graft offences as his campaign officials. Buhari has authorised the defection of persons suspected for graft offences to join his campaign train in exchange for immunity from constant harassment from the EFCC whose acting Chairman Alhaji Ibrahim Magu was pronounced not a fit and proper person to hold the substantive position of Chairman of EFCC on the strength of a written dossier by the DSS to the Senate leadership which turned down irrevocably the confirmation of Magu but who is being kept against the law by the Presidency with scant regard for the constitutional principle of seoaration of powers."
HURIWA recalled that the Former Director General of the Department of State Service (DSS) Lawal Daura has allegedly said he was not a mole during his time as the head of the Service thus ruling out the spin from some All progressives congress officials that he was actually working for the senate President Dr Bukola Saraki who defected from APC to PDP.
HURIWA recalled that a report, attributed to PRNigeria claimed that a close associate of the sacked DSS boss who spoke to PRNigeria on condition of anonymity said that Daura insisted that he took all actions in national interest adding that it was a collective effort involving principal officers of sister agencies. Daura however promised not to disclose on whose authority he laid siege on the National Assembly. HURIWA dismissed this apparent attempt by Alhaji Daura at justification of acts of lawlessness on the nebulous plank of national interest as a political fraud that lacks logic and pragmatic support in law and practice.
HURIWA recalled that the source further said that “while the former DSS boss has not officially handed over up till now, his house both in Asokoro and Gwarinpa were thoroughly searched in the night and nothing incriminating were found, and all items found including necklace, praying mat, CDs, ATM card, women bags, documents and receipts have been duly returned to him accordingly.”
PRNigeria also noted that the source who is also close to security agencies pointed out that: “Spymasters all over the world can be sacrificed but not to the extent of rubbishing their integrity and reputation on the altar of political considerations, especially a spymaster created by the same system, considering the delicate and sensitive nature of intelligent services.”
It would be recalled that the interim report submitted by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris to the then acting president,
HURIWA recalled that Professor Yemi Osinbajo had allegedly noted that Daura, has confessed that he deployed hooded Operatives of the Secret Service to the National Assembly complex based on intelligence report that unauthorised persons were planning to smuggle dangerous weapons and incriminating items into the Federal Legislative complex.
Part of the report reads, “The former Director-General, Department of State Security Services, DSS, Lawal Daura, acted unilaterally, without informing the Presidency. He did not share or intimate other Security Agencies on the unlawful operations.”
HURIWA accused President Muhammadu Buhari of playing on the collective intelligence of Nigerians by seeking to grant softlanding to the erstwhile DG of DSS just because of his relationship to the President and because he was actually sent to take over the National Assembly. The Rights group has asked Nigerians to continue to demand accountability from this administration on this serious act of treasonable felony by the dismissed head of the DSS just as he urged the National Assembly leadership to set up an investigation on the invasion if the execurive arm of government fails to act in good time to save the nation from the shane of these accumulated acts of criminal impumity by the federal government.