DSS acts irresponsibly – Fayose condemns arrest of PDP chieftain

Ekiti State Governor and Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum, Ayodele Fayose has condemned the arrest and detention of Babatunde Olalere Gbadamosi, by operatives of Department of State Services (DSS). Gbadamosi is a former governorship aspirant of the PDP in Lagos State.

The governor, who said the agency acts irresponsibly, warned that “nothing must happen to Mr Gbadamosi because up till today, the DSS has not told Nigerians why he was arrested and being kept incommunicado, without access to his wife and doctor.”

“It is only in a banana republic that someone will honour the invitation of the 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 said.

In a statement issued on Saturday by his 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.

He called for immediate release of Mr Gbadamosi, whom he described as a prominent and law abiding Nigerian that had contributed immensely to the economy of the country, stressing “If they have any issue with him, let the DSS charge him to court.”

The governor maintained that it was worrisome that the DSS had turned itself into an instrument of the oppressor that was 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. The 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 (retd) 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.”