Some operatives of the Department of State Service (DSS), Nigerias secret service agency, have arrived at the Abuja office of the Socio-Economic Rights Accountability Project (SERAP) looking to arrest its directors.
This comes a day after SERAP urged President Bola Tinubu to direct the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to immediately reverse the apparently illegal and unconstitutional increase in the pump price of petrol.
SERAP is a renowned civil society organisation dedicated to public accountability and democratic freedoms. On its social media accounts yesterday, It posted: “BREAKING: Officers from Nigerias State Security Service (SSS) are presently unlawfully occupying SERAPs office in Abuja, asking to see our directors.President Tinubu must immediately direct the SSS to end the harassment, intimidation and attack on the rights of Nigerians.
This situation, according to observers, adds to the increasing threat against civic rights under Tinubus government.
Amnesty International Nigeria responded to the DSS move by cautioning that Tinubu is going too far suppressing dissenting voices since his assumption of power.
The siege on SERAPs office coincides with NLC President Joe Ajaeros arrest at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport in Abuja. The DSS detained Ajaero who was on his way to the United Kingdom on Monday.
Nigerias police abducted FIJs Daniel Ojukwu in May. The Nigeria Police Force National Cyber Crime Centre (NPF-NCCC) kept Ojukwu in custody for nine days over a report report on malfeasance in government.
The NPF-NCCC also invited Fisayo Soyombo, FIJs founder, for questioning over the same story in August.
