…APC, DSS Abusing Power, Dasuki Says
The Directorate of State Security Service (DSS) has, once again, stormed the Abuja, Nigeria home of former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki.
According to Dasuki’s aides, who hinted newsman about the raid, DSS officials stormed the home on Thursday morning taking over the entire residence.
According to some of the sources, the invasion of Dasuki’s house could be related to his plans to travel abroad for medical reasons.
A Federal High Court in Abuja had last Tuesday ordered that Dasuki’s international passport, seized by the Federal Government earlier be released to him to enable him travel.
Dasuki is standing trial for illegal possession of firearms.
He is also facing money laundry charges.
The DSS could not be reached as it is yet to formally appoint a spokesperson.
Dasuki’s account
The former National Security Adviser, speaking with our correspondent, berated the DSS for not respecting the law. He said they were only bent on keeping him in custody, regardless of what the law is saying.
The court had granted Dasuki the opportunity to travel abroad on health grounds, with instructions that immediately he comes back, he should submit his international passport to the court registrar.
But Dasuki claimed that he learnt from reliable sources that the DSS was planning to arrest him at the airport on Wednesday, so he deferred his travel to avoid any confrontation.
He said that when when men of the DSS came to his house on Thursday, they claim they brought a letter, but said he must personally come out to receive it.
“When I insisted that one of my domestic staff should receive the letter on my behalf, they threatened to force their way into the house,” Dasuki recounted.
“I told them that unless they had a warrant allowing them to arrest me, I do not have to collect the letter from them and I am also not going anywhere without my lawyer.”
He accused the DSS and the ruling All Progressives Congress ( APC) of abusing power. He said if the administration he served with had abused power that way, APC would not be here today.
“They brought Boni Haruna to my house yesterday asking him to invite me to go with them just to clarify something,” he explained.
“I told them that since this matter is in court, I am not under obligation to deal with them and advised them to go to court if they have any issue related to the case.”
He said circumventing the law and resorting to intimidation and brute force would only muddle up everything just like it did in the case of Boko Haram insurgency, escalating the matter instead of resolving it.
Why DSS Raided Dasuki’s House
However, the Department of State Services (DSS) has denied that it went against the court order with the Thursday raid on the Abuja home of Sambo Dasuki, former National Security Adviser.
Dasuki is facing charges of illegal possession of firearms and money laundering.
The DSS raided his home and allegedly prevented him from travelling abroad for medical treatment after a court had granted that his international passport be released to him.
The DSS, however, revealed that the Thursday invasion was in relation to a $2 billion arms deal that occurred during the last administration of which he was a part.
Read the full statement signed by Tony Opuiyo below:
1. The attention of the Department of State Services (DSS) has been brought to the report making rounds that its operatives illegally blocked the residence of the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki (Col/Rtd), in violation of a subsisting court order granting him a relief to travel oversea for medical services. This is to say the least that such report is not only unfounded and malicious but aimed at tarnishing the good image of the Service.
2. It may be recalled that SAMBO was initially arrested and charged to court for unlawful possession of firearms and money laundering, for which reason his international passport was seized and on the order of the court, returned to the registrar for custody. What has however brought the seeming standoff between SAMBO and the Service, despite the court-ordered release of his international passport on 4th November, 2015, is his refusal to appear before a Committee undertaking the investigation of an entirely different case.
3. The public may wish to note that the government set up the Committee to investigate procurement processes relating to a two billion dollar ($2billion) arms transaction by the last administration, under which SAMBO was the NSA. It was on this premise that he was invited by the Committee to shed more light on his involvement in the deal. It, therefore, remains surprising and shocking that SAMBO has refused to honour invitations of the Committee but instead resorts to grandstanding and subtle blackmail of the Service. His refusal to appear before the Committee has left the Service with no option than to adopt legal means to ensure his attendance.
4. Therefore, without doubt, SAMBO is pulling all strings available to him to evade justice and put the Service in bad light. The simple fact is that the DSS is not persecuting him. Nigerians are therefore enjoined to disregard the impression being created by him. This Service wishes to re-emphasise its commitment to the rule of law and strict adherence to democratic ideals. However, any person or group, no matter how highly placed, that may wish to test the will of the present democratic dispensation, will definitely be checked through the legal provisions of the law.
