- El-Rufai alleged DSS tried detaining him without warrant.
- He insisted on formal invitation before complying with officers.
- Former governor warned against politicising security institutions.
Former Kaduna governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has said operatives of the Department of State Services attempted to detain him at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport without a warrant.
El-Rufai made the claim during an appearance on Channels Television, alleging that security agencies were being used for political purposes against opposition figures.
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EKO HOT BLOG reports that he said the incident occurred upon his return from Cairo. According to him, a DSS officer approached him shortly after he disembarked from the aircraft and requested that he follow him to the agency’s office.
“Well, I came out of the plane, and a young man that is well dressed with a nice suit came to me and said, ‘I am from the DSS, Department of State Services. I would like to meet with you in our office.’ I said, ‘That’s fine. Where is the letter of invitation?’ He said, ‘My bosses have it. I will escort you to them.’ I said, ‘I’m going through immigration. Just get me the letter,” he disclosed.
The former governor said more operatives later approached him as he headed towards immigration but he declined to follow them without a formal invitation.
“They said, ‘We are from the DSS, sir, we are going this way. We need to go to your office.’ I said, ‘I’m not going to your office. I’m not going anywhere until you show me a letter of invitation,” he said.
El-Rufai added, “I said, ‘Even the president cannot tell me I have to do anything. It’s a free country, it’s a democratic country, and I don’t have to do anything that I do not wish to do. So you are just a middle-level or senior civil servant. The president cannot tell me what to do. Don’t say I have to. It’s inappropriate language.’”
He said he proceeded through immigration, had his passport stamped and left the airport. However, he alleged that operatives later assaulted one of his aides and seized the aide’s passport.
“That’s the aide that got beaten up and they seized the passport from him. If I had the passport with me, I would not be talking this,” he said.
El-Rufai warned that public trust in security institutions could erode if neutrality is questioned.
“Once people begin to lose confidence in the neutrality of such institutions, we are on our way to anarchy,” he said.
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