The Human & Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre) has strongly condemned the alleged siege at the office of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) by supposed operatives from the Department of State Service (DSS).

The executive director of CISLAC, Auwal Musa, had in a letter to the Director General of DSS confirmed that men suspected to be operatives of DSS stormed his organisation’s office and requested to see CISLAC’s Chief Security officer (CSO).

“We condemn in a strong terms any unwarranted invasion, incursion or any other act calculatedly targeted at Civil Society organizations and other groups or individuals who are on course in the fight against corrupt practices in the country,” HEDA said Saturday in a statement signed by its Chairman Olanrewaju Suraju.

“We reiterate that in our quest to protect and promote universally recognized human rights, accountability and environmental justice in Nigeria and Africa, in accordance with international standards, through research and publications, campaigns, human rights education and empowerment projects and programmes, we in the civic space would never be intimidated nor retreat from our mandates.

“Considering the recent activities of criminals using official security covers to perpetrate wanton criminalities in the recent past, we therefore condemn in strong terms and urge President Buhari to expedite actions to order investigation to reveal the true identity of those who carried out such act and the reason(s). We urge every government agencies especially those in the security sector to be wary of Persons or group of Persons who are only good at impersonating them (Security agencies) to perpetuate evil in the country.

“This is imperative now following the attempt to use compromised law enforcement agencies to harass Civil society practitioners by those accused of corrupt practices and decline in the image of Nigeria, hence the need for government to redeem and boost its corporate standing from abyss. We must be reminded that no sane country would think or act in any way geared towards silencing Civil Society organizations or other like-minded fellows. It’s expected that we support individuals and corporates to restore moral sanity in our society for the betterment of every Nigerian,” HEDA said.

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