Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the National Assembly to set up a body of just few independent experts to work as effective oversight platform over officers and operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) to stem the worrisome incidence of indiscipline and professional misconducts.
The right group suggested that the commission should be independent in operations and funding of not more than 50 persons staff strength to avoid political manipulations by the politicians rather the body should be that of highly regarded law, human rights and security experts to enforce disciplinary regime amongst the staff of both the DSS and the National Intelligence Agency.
In statement by the National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA expressed consternation on how the Department of State Services/SSS which was set up to prevent insecurity that threatens the nation has allowed its operatives and officers to derail from the rules of engagement and the good intention rather Nigerians are witnessing are cases of individual’s and group’s acts of infamy, recklessness and lawlessness as if to say that the men and officers of the DSS are above the laws of the land.
The group also condemns the use of DSS operatives to settle personal and commercial discord by powerful persons with links to the DSS.
HURIWA condemns what it describes as a public show of shame in a market square in Abuja, ‘’when two people were on Saturday injured after an operative of the Department of State Service allegedly shot at a man in a market in the Garki 2 area of Abuja even as it was gathered that a woman had invited a DSS operative to accost a tailor she had given clothes to work on, after having delayed the job for some time.’’
‘’Information available stated that in a bid to avoid being manhandled by the DSS operative, the tailor ran away but he was shot in the leg allegedly by the DSS operative, while a bullet also hit a girl nearby. Consequently, the other tailors in the market descended on the shooter and beat him up, as well as the police outpost in the market after the police officers there came to the aide of the DSS operative.’’
HURIWA recalled that the police thereafter reinforced and returned to the market, firing teargas to disperse the angry tailors.
Meanwhile, the FCT police command in a statement explained that normalcy has been restored to the area and weapons used during the altercation have been recovered. HURIWA is calling on the authority to ensure that this case of gross indiscipline and attempted multiple murders is not jeopardised by officialdom but the indicted operative must be subjected to the relevant laws of the land and punished in accordance with the rule of law.
