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Nigerian secret police, the Department of State Service (DSS) has denied claims that its operatives conducted a raid on the headquarters of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Abuja, the nation's capital.
This comes on the heels of a claim by the NLC on the night of Wednesday, August 7, 2024, alleging that security agents, including men of the DSS, invaded its office and that they had carted away some documents.
In a statement by its head of Media and Public Relations, Benson Upah, the NLC said DSS operatives stormed the headquarters around 8:30 pm.
“They broke in and ransacked the bookshop on the 2nd floor carting away hundreds of books and other publications.
“The invading troop claimed that they were looking for seditious materials used for the #EndBadGoveranance Protests,” Upah said.
The NLC described the development as a new low for security operatives in Nigeria, noting that even military regimes never went to such an extent.
“The Nigeria Labour Congress condemns in its entirety this new low in security operations in Nigeria. The armed security operatives showed no legal document permitting them to invade the premises of the Nigeria Labour Congress in the ungodly hours of the night. Even in the dark days of military rule, NLC secretariats were never invaded and ransacked by security agents. Today is indeed a very sad day for our democracy,” he added.
DSS refutes NLC's claim
Responding on Thursday, the spokesman of the Service, Peter Afunanya, denied that its personnel were responsible for the ransacking of the labour union's office.
“Good morning dear friends. Pls kindly note that the Service (DSS) did not carry out any operation at the NLC office in Abuja,” Afunanya said in a terse statement.
Recall the DSS announced on Wednesday the arrest and detention of seven Polish nationals in connection to the display of the Russian flag by demonstrators during the nationwide protest in Kano State.
The detained, who are currently under investigation, were arrested on Monday, August 5, 2024.