The Department of State Services, DSS, has come under fire over its recent statement that three unnamed governors are under its watchlist.
Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, on Monday, raised many questions about the statement and described it as vexatious.
Recall that a security alert emerged from the security agency where it claimed that three serving governors are secretly planning to incite violence in the country particularly the North.
The agency said the three governors who would be completing their 8 years in office in 2023, are from North Central, North East South-South geopolitical zones.
The governors are said to have met in a secret location and mapped out their plan to stage a nationwide protest that would be worse than the 2020 #End SARS protest, among other claims.
In reaction to these claims, HURIWA said that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government does not seem to be bothered about the heightened level of security in the country.
The group at a press conference addressed by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, wondered how the DSS, being one of the agencies of the security community that should be preventing attacks and killing of innocent Nigerians in various communities across the country, could only raised alarm that some governors are plotting to undermine democracy.
“This is laughable,” the group said, wondering where the security agencies were when armed terrorists invade communities at will across the North Central and Southern Kaduna and kill as many people as they want and nobody is arrested and prosecuted.
The human rights advocacy group continued, “At a point, within the lifespan of this government, the officials of the presidency and the governor of Benue State seemed to be in a very confrontational mood as if when you speak against the killing of your people you become a target of the Federal Government.
“This is not how a government should be organised. A government should not be seen or perceived remotely or otherwise as protecting a bunch of killers.
“The most disturbing phenomenon is that whenever these attacks are imminent or happening, the people who are usually at the receiving ends of these attacks usually raise alarm mostly on social media.
“The alarms are usually circulated but they don’t get interventions as if people just wait and see how many casualties would be recorded and how many houses burnt .
“Nothing gets done and nobody is held accountable for those attacks and nobody is ever punished among the heads of security for negligence of duty, dereliction of duty or total failure.
“But we get to hear news stories that are all over the place of DSS accusing governors of plotting to [undermine democracy.
“Well, we’re not concerned about the veracity or otherwise of the DSS claim. We’re not contending the veracity or otherwise of that statement but we are saying that that statement is vexatious.
“How can you be talking about governors trying to set inter-ethnic crisis when people are already being killed and you’re not doing anything about it? And you’re saying some people are plotting and you couldn’t even name the governors making the plot.
“You just make a generalised statement that is so annoying. And as you’re making that statement people are being killed in many communities like chickens. Less than four hours ago, people, not too far away from Abuja, Kagoro is just two hours drive from Abuja. Nigerians were killed.
“They said over 50 people were killed and several houses were raised to the ground and these people actually raised alarm when they sighted the attackers and nothing ever happened and you’re here telling us that governors are plotting to undermine democracy.”