A/Ibom Lawmakers Threaten Lawsuit Against DSS

The Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly has issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Department of State Services (DSS) to apologise for the raid carried out at the Government House, Uyo or face litigation.

The Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Anikan Okon, told a news conference in Abuja that the state government would sue the DSS if it failed to apologise for the operation carried out at the governor’s official residence in the state capital.

Speaker Okon urged President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Assembly to launch an investigation into the action of the DSS, which it described as a violation of the constitution and an act of impunity.

“We also invite President Muhammadu Buhari and the leadership of the National Assembly to launch proper investigation into the ridiculous action of the SSS. We are shocked that the SSS which is currently purging officers it claimed to have shown unconcealed partisanship should descend so low to the extent of staging a coup d’état on our governor, simply because he belongs to an opposition party.

“Despite the fact that the president, his deputy as well as state governors enjoy constitutional immunity, the Akwa Ibom state Governor Udom Emmanuel has been singled out and stripped of this right, which is provided for him under the law.

“We are firm in the belief that if the raid on the Hilltop Mansion was not an act of felony, persecution and political vendetta, the DSS would have declared their mission before unleashing terror on innocent workers of Akwa Ibom State Government and or openly declare to the authorities in the state what they found and what they took away from our Government House”, he said.

The lawmaker maintained that the raid contravenes Section 308 (1, 2, 3) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).

The lawmakers also denied media reports indicating that the secret service operatives had uncovered stockpile of arms and ammunition as well as money in foreign currency.