APC Condemns DSS’ Second Raid on Data Centre
The All Progressives Congress, APC, has condemned a second raid on its data centre by operatives of the Department of State Services on Monday night, saying the agency has spiraled out of control and must be called to order.
In a statement released on Tuesday in Abuja, the party’s national publicity secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said: ‘’The raid by over 40 armed DSS officers, despite a court order restraining the service from such action, shows that the DSS considers itself to be above the laws of the land, and this is totally condemnable.
“Even under a PDP government that has nothing but contempt for constitutional order, the lack of respect for a court order by an institution of state like the DSS has plumbed the depth of anomie, and shows that our democracy is in clear and present danger from anarchists.”
The party alleged that 40 armed DSS officers invaded the building with trucks and manhandled the security personnel at the building, taking away over 30 bags filled with the APC membership registration forms.
“It is sensible to conclude that the DSS’ second raid was its own crude reaction to the challenge we posed to it. Apparently yet to find any evidence of PVC cloning as alleged by the DSS, it is now quite desperate to manufacture evidence to justify its raids.
”Or how else does one explain the claim by the service that its ‘findings’ will shock Nigerians, even at a time it is still in search of evidence? Is this how self-respecting intelligence agencies conduct their operations?
“It is curious that an institution of state will continue to act like an enforcement arm of the ruling party by constantly harassing the opposition. It is strange that an organisation that should be deploying its best staff to gather useful intelligence that can help the nation to win the anti-terrorism war is instead engaging in terrorising the opposition.
“It is time to call the DSS to order, and to remind those at the helms of affairs that while they may be having a free rein today, they will one day rue their actions at this critical time in our nation’s history’’, it said.
