The Tuesday invasion of the residence of King Amalate Turner, an ally of former President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja, has received knocks from the people of Ijaw nation.
The President, Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide, Mr. Udengs Eradiri, demanded an apology from the Department of State Security Service for the invasion of Turner, the paramount ruler of Opume Kingdom in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
Eradiri, who spoke at a news conference in Ijaw House in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, said the DSS did not follow the laid down procedures before encroaching o
The IYC boss said the action of the DSS was a slap on the Ijaw nation, stressing that the invasion was tantamount to desecration of the cherished culture and tradition of the Ijaw.
Eradiri stated, “Yesterday, very sad and bitter news came into Ijaw land that the DSS has invaded a property of a royal majesty, a king in Ijaw land, King Amalate Turner.
The act is condemned. It should not be accepted by the Nigerian public. We see it as an abuse of fundamental rights of individuals of this country.
“The right procedure was not followed. DSS should have invited him to their office if they smelt any rat. We are still aback. Initially, we even thought it was armed robbery operation because the manner of invasion was like the way armed robbers operate.
“Security agencies have modus operandi of engaging civil society. We condemn that act and I am sure the right action should be taken. The security agencies have the right to invite anybody, but the manner they approach issues, especially when it concerns the Niger Delta people is the one that is worrisome to us.
“How can you go to a King’s house, a respected king in Ijaw land and behave that way? For us, it is a desecration of our tradition and that is why we are expressing our dissatisfaction and displeasure with the actions of the DSS.
“For us, it is an insult to Ijaw nation and we demand an apology from the DSS. What we are meant to understand was that they took documents pertaining to his bank accounts and all of those. Is it now offence for somebody to have documents?. For me, it is an invasion of his rights and for this reason, we are meeting as an Ijaw people to take the next step concerning what is happening to us.”
He alleged that the DSS operatives carted away a lot of items, insisting that what they did was just to set the ground to further harass and embarrass former President Goodluck Jonathan. He said if the DSS had decided to dance around the people that were close to Jonathan so that they could deflate them and humiliate Jonathan, they would not accept it.
He contended, “But the truth is that we condemn that act and demand that the DSS apologises to Ijaw nation because that is a desecration of a King’s privacy. We will not do it to any of their kings.
“When Jonathan was in power, he did not at any point in time use the state apparatus to intimidate the northerners, even at the height of the Lamido Sanusi incident when people rationalised that the former President was using his power to harass Sanusi.
“Jonathan did not do that because of his respect for constituted authorities and respect for traditional institution, so, why are we not getting the same respect in return?”
Eradiri urged the DSS to follow the right procedure, regretting that the manner the DSS used to invade the residence of Turner was not acceptable.
He said the Ijaw nation would in no distant time meet over the incidet to enable them to know the next step to take regarding the ambush on their king.
He added, “We, therefore, demand that the DSS apologises to the Ijaw nation for invading a property of a king in Ijaw land. We will never do it to the kings in other places.
“We demand that our traditional institution should be respected. What we expect is that if they have any issue with anybody, they should follow the due process.”
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