FIVE protesters have sued the State Security Service (SSS) and others over their illegal arrest, detention and human rights violation by the security agency.
The Director-General of the SSS Yusuf Magaji Bichi, Attorney General of the Federation Abubakar Malami, and Pastor of Dunamis International Gospel Centre Paul Enenche were listed as respondents in the suit.
The protesters were handed over to the SSS by church authorities for protesting during a Sunday service at the Dunamis Gospel Church Headquarters in Lugbe while wearing ‘Buhari Must Go’ t-shirts last Sunday.
According to a report, a top church official who wished to be anonymous confirmed the incident, saying the protesters took members of the church by surprise.
“We had to hand them over to security operatives because we believed in three things. It’s either they were sent in by agencies to make sure that the church is at loggerheads with the government or make it seem like the church sponsored the protest,” he said.
However, a statement released by Dunamis International Gospel Centre on Tuesday denied the involvement of the church in the arrest of the protesters.
According to the statement, the protesters had attempted to make a live stream of their protests with the caption, ‘BUHARI MUST GO Campaign Hits Dunamis Church’ in Abuja.
“For the records, the Senior Pastor, Dr. Paul Enenche who was engaged in preaching the sermon in the second service was not privy to the unfolding development, let alone giving the order for their arrest. We wish to state categorically that Dunamis Int’l Gospel Centre has no hands in the arrest and detention of the said youths as they were arrested outside the premises of the church,” it read.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.