The Department of State Service (DSS) says its operatives are not involved in the arrest of the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress in the 2023 election, Omoyele Sowore.
The secret police stressed that the clarifications became imperative because of the “erroneous” reports in some sections of the media that had since gone viral that its operatives were involved.
A highly-placed official of the service, who spoke to Daily Trust on Sunday, explained that they would not hesitate to use all legal means in their operations if they have any axe to grind with any individual.
Daily Trust reports that Sowore was arrested on Sunday morning at Murtala Muhammad International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos State by Nigerian Immigration officials but later released.
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“I had just arrived in Nigeria from the USA at MMIA in Lagos; upon reaching Nigerian Immigration, my passport was seized, and they told me they had orders to detain me,” Sowore had written.
However, in a post via his official X handle after a few hours, Sowore revealed that he had been released by the Nigerian Immigration Service and his passport had been released.
“I have just been released by the Nigerian Immigration after a brief detention and my passport released back to me”, the activist-turned-politician had disclosed.
But the senior officer at the DSS headquarters confided in our correspondent that Sowore’s name, which was on the secret police watchlist before, had since been removed.
“See, what I can tell you is that the name of the man in question was on our watchlist before, but we had since removed it.
“Our new DG is determined to reform and reposition the Department of State Service (DSS) as a responsible and responsive organisation.
“In that case, I want to state categorically that our officers were not involved in his arrest, so, Nigerians should discard the fake news of the DSS’ involvement,” the source said.
Efforts to formally hear from the secret police proved abortive as several calls pulled across to the service number provided to journalists did not connect.
An email sent to the official address of the service was yet to be responded to as at when filing this report.
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