Ekiti lawmaker's arrest: NBA, TUC slam Buhari, DSS over alleged dictatorship
The
Nigerian Bar Association, NBA and the organized labour have accused President
Muhammadu Buhari of sliding into dictatorship, saying such tendency is inimical
to the survival of democracy.
The unions stated this in a statement
in Ado-Ekiti yesterday by NBA Chairman, Dr Foluke Dada, the body said it views
the arrest and detention by the DSS as a sharp departure from the tenets of
Democracy and a clear contravention of the Law setting up the Institution.
"Above all, the arrest is a clear contravention of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which the DSS is established to uphold at all times when discharging their duties.
"The NBA, mindful of the current fight against corruption, calls on the authorities involved to uphold the Rule of Law. Hence, the Bar unequivocally condemns the forced entry into the hallowed chambers of the House and the arbitrary arrest of the lawmakers.
"The branch, while condemning the commando style of the DSS, asks for the immediate disclosure of the where-about of the lawmakers and wants to know the offences upon which they were arrested to be made public."
Also, the Chairman, Trade Union Congress in Ekiti, Comrade Odunayo Adesoye, described as a dangerous trend what could expose workers of the state civil service to serious security risk.
He said workers in the state are now apprehensive of what could happen at their
duty posts due to anxiety created by the alleged invasion of the House by
security agents.
Describing the DSS action as brutish and barbaric', Adesoye said the arrests
of these top government officials without any formal invitation, was a flagrant
infringement on their fundamental human rights as enunciated in the United
Nations Human Rights' Charter.
Adesoye wondered why innocent Nigerians were being clamped into detention by DSS while criminals are having a field day, terrorizing and killing citizens on daily basis.
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