Controversial Interim National Deputy Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Malam Nasir el-Rufai, has gone underground in his determination not to answer the summons of Nigeria’s secret police, the State Security Service (SSS).

SSS operatives have, however, vowed to fish him out “so he would clear himself of the inflammatory statements on the 2015 elections which the media attributed to him,” reports the Abuja-based LEADERSHIP Sunday.

“The agency, which insisted that it had secured a court warrant to arrest the former minister of the Federal Capital Territory, said the search for him had continued,” the paper reports, adding:

“The manhunt for the APC chieftain started on Friday when, at noon, a detachment of armed SSS men stormed his Maitama District home and attempted to force their way into the compound shortly after the man had left home to pick his children from school.

“The SSS had invited el-Rufai for questioning over a statement it considered inflammatory, but he turned down the invitation and asked the security agency to come to his house for whatever questioning or get a court warrant to arrest him.

“After a fruitless search for el-Rufai at his Mambilla Street residence in the FCT, the operatives stormed his second house in Madeira Street, also in Abuja, where his private guards allegedly resisted their entry into the property and were manhandled.

“The spokesperson of the SSS, Marylyn Ogar, who confirmed the search for el-Rufai in his second house, said nobody was beaten up.

“According to Ogar, the SSS got an arrest warrant as demanded by el-Rufai, but could not find him to personally serve him the document.”

•Photo shows el-Rufai.