By Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti
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 Services (DSS), describing the arrest and detention as a continuation of the tyranny 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 yesterday by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Fayose said the
DSS must begin to act responsibly by desisting from treating Nigerians as if the country was under military dictatorship, adding: “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 offence is.”
He called for the immediate release of 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 into 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.
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.”
