CISLAC Condemns Siege Of Its Office By SSS Operatives, Calls For Immediate Investigation

The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, CISLAC, has condemned what it described as unlawful the invasion of its headquarters in Abuja by the operatives of the Department of State Security Services, DSS.

The Executive Director, CISLAC, Comrade Auwal Musa-Rafsanjani, in a six-paragraph letter to the Director-General of the DSS, called on the Service to investigate the incident in order to put an end to the “trend of shrinking civic space and the ongoing attempt to weaken democratic institutions to which the civil society community represents”.

According to the letter, the suspected operatives of the DSS had carried out the invasion at the CISLAC head office in Utako (Abuja) on a public holiday without any prior notice or any official warrant from the office of the DSS Director-General.

“Laying siege, the operatives demanded to see the Chief Security Officer of the building. On learning about this, our initial thought was that these were individuals masquerading as DSS agents considering the fact that this was not just during the holiday period, but it was on a day declared as a public holiday by the federal government of Nigeria.

“This thought was further reinforced by the fact that was no prior notice, invitation, or a pending request from your office regarding any of such visit,” the letter read.

Mr Rafsanjani further noted that unlawful actions portrayed by the suspected DSS operatives “feed fears that the country is gradually snowballing into autocracy with the regular abuse of powers from those parading themselves as agents of the state”.

He said: “As an organization, we believe in the rule of law. We have complied with all statutes and thereby have not violated any law. We urge you to use your good office to put an end to this trend of shrinking civic space and the ongoing attempt to weaken democratic institutions to which the civil society community represents an aspect.”