A’Ibom PDP alleges harassment by DSS

THE Akwa Ibom State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused officers and men of the State Security Service (SSS) of harassing its members at the elections tribunal sitting in Abuja over the April 11 governorship election in the state.

In a statement issued yesterday by the state chairman, Obong Paul Ekpo, the party alleged that the Department of State Security (DSS) was playing partisan politics by working in connivance with the opposition party in the state, the All Progressives Congress, APC, to arrest its members.

The statement read in part: “We wish to use this opportunity to alert the nation and the international community about the undisguised display of partisanship by the agents of the State Security Service at the electoral tribunal currently sitting in Abuja. Our members and agents have been hounded, harassed, and threatened by the SSS officers.”

The party also accused the security operatives of singling out the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) in both Akwa Ibom and Rivers states for scrutiny and interrogation, saying the development was ‘part of the ploy by the APC to hijack the people’s mandate freely given the PDP at the polls.’

“We want to put it on record that what the opposition is doing in Akwa Ibom and Rivers states is against the spirit, ethos and values of democratic norms and traditions. Nigeria is not a one-party state and any attempt by the opposition to use the state security to subvert the will of the good people of Akwa Ibom State as expressly given on March 28 and April 11 respectively will be resisted squarely.”