Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said the level of oppressive control under President Bola Tinubu-led administration has surpassed the harshest days of military dictatorship.
Atiku stated this while reacting to the arrest and release of Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) President Comrade Joe Ajaero and the Department of State Services (DSS) invasion of the Social Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) office.
DSS operatives arrested Ajaero at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on his way to attend the Conference of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) in the United Kingdom, billed to commence on Monday. He was later released.
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Similarly, the covert security outfit also invaded the office of a civil society platform, SERAP, yesterday morning in Abuja.
Noting that the action of Tinubu’s administration stands as a grave affront to democratic values, Atiku said, “The escalating assault on civil society and the media by the Bola Tinubu administration is profoundly disturbing. The oppressive control now imposed surpasses even the harshest days of military dictatorship.
“The recent arrest of Mr Joe Ajaero, President of the Nigerian Labour Congress, en route to an official event, epitomises this regime’s relentless campaign to intimidate and subdue organised labour.
“Just days prior, security forces detained a journalist, only to later claim it was a grievous error. What if the outcome had been fatal?
“Now, Tinubu’s regime extends its repressive grasp to encroach upon @SERAPNigeria, an action that stands as a grave affront to our democratic values. This siege is anathema to the principles of freedom and justice.
“Tinubu and his security apparatus must redirect their fervour and intimidation towards the actual perpetrators of violence — terrorists and bandits — who are inflicting immeasurable suffering upon the Nigerian people,” Atiku said.
Similarly, Prince Adewole Adebayo, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), decried the use of military regime antics against democratic critics by President Bola Tinubu-led administration.
Adebayo, who condemned the DSS’ invasion of the SERAP office, added that Nigeria cannot return to the days of former military president General Sani Abacha.
Adebayo wrote on his official X handle: “I am for law enforcement and the rule of law as a matter of instinct. The invasion of the offices of @SERAPNigeria by agents of the @OfficialDSSNG under the administration of @officialABAT calls for an immediate and clear explanation. What would Abacha do cannot be the new doctrine!”