A leading pro-democracy and civil rights organisation, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), has warned the Federal Government “not to sweep under the carpet, the serious treasonable conduct of the disgraced erstwhile Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), but to constitute an independent judicial commission of inquiry to be headed by a serving Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria to name those who took part in the show of shame, and recommend them for appropriate legal sanctions.”

HURIWA further restated her call for the dismissed DG of DSS to be prosecuted for his large-scale violations of the human rights of Nigerians, including arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances of several unarmed members of the Indigenous people of Biafra (IPOB), and for many other claims of lawlessness committed by him.

The rights group alleged that it has been reliably informed by someone who is considerably knowledgeable about the workings of the inner sanctum of President Muhammadu Buhari's administration that, there are systematic plots to reinstate the dismissed DG of DSS back to the office or at most due to what they regard as political backlash that may result from the threat to resign by the then acting President if this is done, grant the sacked spymaster soft landing.

It regretted that the current government has continued to perpetrate acts of lawlessness and impunity which will impact negatively on the health or otherwise of the nation's constitutional democracy, adding that members of the international community have already noticed that the current government encourages impunity and lawlessness.

The group stated that from all available body of knowledge from the intelligence community, there is definitely a systematic design to let the erstwhile DG of DSS off the hook, just in the same fashion as was done to Abdulrasheed Maina, the then fugitive graft suspect accused of multibillion pensions fraud by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) but who was reinstated by the Presidency.

HURIWA recalled that when this was exposed, the accused fraudster who was reinstated and promoted was then fired even as the National Assembly investigated the Federal Attorney General in relation to the scandal but President Buhari refused to sanction his top officials who were involved in this monumental scandal because the Attorney General was quoted as saying that the meeting he held with the then fugitive pension fraud suspect in Dubai had the approval of his principal.

HURIWA in a statement by the National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, and the National Media Affairs Director, Miss Zainab Yusuf, condemned the sudden silence by President Buhari on the heavy and indeed grave danger to national security and constitutional democracy the illegal action of invading the National Assembly by the hooded armed operatives of the DSS on the express order of the then DG. The DG who was fired by the Acting President, it was gathered by the group has now been permitted to embark on public relations and propaganda activities to try to save his face and neck and to stave off public call for his prosecution and judicial sanctions in line with the laws of the land.

HURIWA recalled that the Former DSS DG has allegedly said he was not a mole during his time as the head of the Service, thus ruling out the spin from some All Progressives Congress officials that he was actually working for the Senate President Dr Bukola Saraki who defected from APC to PDP.

The group noted that a report, attributed to PRNigeria claimed that a close associate of the sacked DSS boss who spoke to PRNigeria on condition of anonymity said that Daura insisted that he took all actions in national interest adding that it was a collective effort involving principal officers of sister agencies. Daura, however, promised not to disclose on whose authority he laid siege on the National Assembly. HURIWA dismissed this apparent attempt by Alhaji Daura at justification of acts of lawlessness on the nebulous plank of national interest as a political fraud that lacks logic and pragmatic support in law and practice.

HURIWA recalled that the source further said that “while the former DSS boss has not officially handed over up till now, his house both in Asokoro and Gwarinpa were thoroughly searched in the night and nothing incriminating were found, and all items found including necklace, praying mat, CDs, ATM card, women bags, documents and receipts have been duly returned to him accordingly.”

PRNigeria also noted that the source, who is also close to security agencies pointed out that: “Spymasters all over the world can be sacrificed but not to the extent of rubbishing their integrity and reputation on the altar of political considerations, especially a spymaster created by the same system, considering the delicate and sensitive nature of intelligent services.”

Based on the interim report submitted by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris to the then acting president, HURIWA recalled that Professor Yemi Osinbajo had allegedly noted that Daura, has confessed that he deployed hooded Operatives of the Secret Service to the National Assembly complex based on intelligence report that unauthorised persons were planning to smuggle dangerous weapons and incriminating items into the Federal Legislative complex.

HURIWA accused President Muhammadu Buhari of playing on the collective intelligence of Nigerians by seeking to grant soft landing to the erstwhile DG of DSS just because of his relationship to the President and because he was actually sent to take over the National Assembly. The rights group asked Nigerians to continue to demand accountability from this administration on this serious act of treasonable felony by the dismissed head of the DSS just as he urged the National Assembly leadership to set up an investigation on the invasion if the executive arm of government fails to act in good time to save the nation from the shame of these accumulated acts of criminal impunity by the federal government.

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