DSS Explains Seizure Of El-Rufai’s Passport At Abuja Airport
The Division of State Providers (DSS) has clarified the circumstances surrounding the reported seizure of former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai’s passport on the Nnamdi Azikiwe Worldwide Airport, Abuja.
The clarification adopted a viral report attributed to El-Rufai’s media aide, Muyiwa Adekeye, who claimed that safety brokers tried to arrest the previous governor on Thursday upon his arrival from Cairo, Egypt.
Adekeye, writing on his verified X deal with shortly after the incident, said: “Safety brokers at the moment tried to arrest Malam Nasir El-Rufai as he arrived on a flight from Cairo. Malam El-Rufai declined to comply with them with out a formal invitation.”
He additional alleged that operatives seized the previous governor’s passport throughout the encounter.
Nevertheless, a supply inside the DSS dismissed as false and deceptive claims that there was any try to arrest or detain El-Rufai on the airport.
In keeping with the supply, the motion taken by operatives was restricted to the seizure of his passport in compliance with a request from an anti-graft company.
“We solely seized his passport in response to a request by an anti-graft company, so he would honour their invitation,” the supply stated.
Offering further particulars, Adekeye maintained that operatives approached El-Rufai as he disembarked from his flight and sought to take him into custody.
He stated the previous governor declined to accompany them, insisting that he wouldn’t comply with out a formal invitation, and alleged that the passport was taken from an aide.
The incident comes amid current remarks by El-Rufai suggesting he might be arrested by the Federal Authorities.
Chatting with the BBC Hausa Service, the previous governor alleged that current developments indicated he is perhaps the subsequent goal of what he described as political intimidation towards opposition figures.
El-Rufai, who not too long ago defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), disclosed that a few of his unnamed associates had already been detained.
“4 folks we labored with in Kaduna have been arrested; so it’s only a matter of time earlier than they arrive for me too,” he stated.
Whereas acknowledging that he had not been arrested, El-Rufai argued that the detention of his associates instructed potential motion towards him.
He additional alleged that political strain was being exerted on politicians to defect to the APC or stay inside the ruling social gathering, claiming that the present political local weather was compelling people to behave out of survival slightly than conviction.
Linus Aleke in Abuja
Times Nigeria