Politics
Ekiti Assembly to sue DSS, FG over abandoned lawmaker
The Ekiti State House of Assembly has alleged that the Department of State Services, DSS, abandoned a member of the Assembly detained by it in an unnamed hospital because of his failing health.
The lawmakers, who claimed no stakeholder was informed by the DSS of Akanni’s release, said they have concluded plans to drag the Federal Government and the DSS, to court for the unlawful detention of the lawmaker for 18 days without a valid court order.
Akanni, a member of the Assembly, representing Efon Alaaye constituency was released on Tuesday night in Abuja.
Addressing the media at a press briefing, the chairman of the House Committee on Information, Youths and Sports, Chief Olugboyega Aribisogan, said “Up till this moment, we have not been told officially by the DSS whether or not Honourable Akanni was formally released from incarceration after spending 18 days without access to his doctors, lawyers and family members.
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“However, preliminary information available to us suggests that Honourable Akanni may have been brought to the hospital by men of the DSS and abandoned there because they could no longer hold him in captivity because of his deteriorating health condition.
“Nigerians should be reminded that it took the rumour of Honourable Akanni’s death for the DSS to admit officially that it was holding him after spending 15 days in detention without access to anyone. As we speak, Honourable Akanni is in very critical condition and he has not been able to speak with anyone of us.
The lawmakers further demanded for an official explanation from the DSS as to why Hon. Akanni was abducted and held incommunicado for 18 days, only to be admitted in a private hospital in Abuja.
“To us, this act of impunity by the DSS under President Muhammadu Buhari is undemocratic, unpatriotic, dictatorial and brutish,” Aribisogan said.
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