Fayose berates SSS over arrest of former PDP governorship candidate

Ekiti State Governor and Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum, Ayodele Fayose, has condemned the arrest and detention of a former governorship aspirant of the party in Lagos State, Babatunde Gbadamosi, by operatives of State Security Service, SSS, 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 SSS must begin to act responsibly by desisting from treating Nigerians as if the country was under military dictatorship.

“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,” the governor said.

He called for immediate release of Mr. Gbadamosi, whom he described as a prominent and law-abiding Nigerian 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 SSS has turned itself to an instrument of oppression 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 SSS, 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.”