News analysis… Dasuki’s travails and the shape of things to come

In from Timothy Enietan-Matthews (Nation’s capital) . . .

The immediate past National Security Adviser (NSA) Sambo Dasuki, is no doubt in the eye of the storm and he is not finding life easy at the moment. The travails of the retired Colonel started shortly after Muhammadu Buhari, took over the reins of power as president, after his inauguration on May 29.

Dasuki, who no doubt was one of the most powerful men in the last administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, had his house invaded by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) apparently on ‘orders from above’. In the process, some guns, then described as ‘enough to topple a government’ and amount of foreign currency were said to have been recovered from his house.

He was placed under house arrest as he was not allowed out of the premises neither were visitors allowed into the Asokoro residence. While the DSS ransacked his Abuja home, a similar operation took place in faraway Sokoto, at a building, incidentally belonging to his father, the deposed Sultan Dasuki.

Many Nigerians felt the action of the DSS was well above the bar while many others applauded the action, saying if he has done anything wrong, he must be made to face the law. These ones contend that sentiments aside, every Nigerian, especially those who have cases to answer must answer for their crimes and it is only by so doing that the country can move forward and be seen to be integrating into the league of civilized and democratic nations.

However, the latest action of the DSS, in stopping the former NSA’s court sanctioned medical trip abroad seem to give the present administration away as looking for something much more than justice.

The FG, in its wisdom and apparently because of its belief in the rule of law, charged Dasuki to court over alleged illegal possession of firearms and money laundering. The case is subsisting before a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja and the court, after listening to arguments from both sides, granted the retired Army Colonel leave for a three weeks medical trip abroad.

It was obvious the Federal Government did not want the application granted but the presiding judge, Justice Adeniyi Ademola, in his ruling, said the accused person has to be in a good state of health to be able to stand trial, insisting that every Nigerian has the right to choose where to receive medical service.

The Federal Government, through the DSS, however betrayed its real interest in the case, when it, according to reports and Dasuki’s statement on Thursday evening, intimidated a former Governor of Adamawa State, Mr. Boni Haruna, who had stood surety for Dasuki, questioning him on the rational for standing surety for a man he called his friend.

The action of the DSS however became more curious when it led Haruna to Dasuki’s house, mandating him to bring him out to honour an invitation to appear before a Committee of the Federal Government for a different case.

Dasuki had alleged that DSS operatives arrived his Abuja residence early Thursday and told his personal security at the gate that they wanted to deliver a letter of invitation for him to report at the SSS office by 11am.

Read also: Why we are after Dasuki – DSS

“I told them that if it is just a letter of invite, they can drop it with my domestic staff, but they insisted that I must come out and collect it myself.

“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 said.

He also explained that after he insisted on his position, the DSS operatives threatened his personal security saying they “can force themselves into the House”.

For those who are familiar with the law, the action of the DSS and by extension, the Federal Government in stopping Dasuki’s medical trip, is a betrayal of their avowed commitment to the rule of law and the well-known tenets of democracy.

A number of commentators argue, that the Buhari administration and its security agencies must know that there is a difference between law enforcement and abuse. The action of the DSS, they say, is nothing short of an abuse of power that must be condemned by every law abiding citizen.

This school of thought note that if the security agency has a problem with the ruling of the Court, there are better ways to express it than using raw force to derail a valid court ruling, as many Nigerians are becoming apprehensive over this recent actions of the DSS, wondering if the nation is sliding into a dictatorship.

It will be recalled that the former Chief Security Officer (CSO) Godwin Obuah, was detained for weeks by the same DSS, denying him access to his medications, lawyer and family. The invasion of the Akwa Ibom Government House is also still fresh in the memory of Nigerians.

It’s worthy of note that many Nigerians, especially those who were vehemently opposed to the emergence of President Buhari, had said he is a dictator who cannot change. The All Progressives Congress (APC) led government must do all it can to convince Nigerians that Buhari is not what he was called, an unrepentant dictator.

In Dasuki’s words: “We were also in power and if we had abused it the way they are doing now, they would never have been here. It is unfortunate”.

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