APC announces 2nd raid of party’s Data Centre, calls it lawless, provocative

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has described as the height of
lawlessness and an orchestrated provocation the second raid that was
carried out on the party's data centre in Ikeja, Lagos, by the DSS on
Monday night, saying the out-of-control agency must urgently be called
to order.
"The raid by over 40 armed DSS officers, despite a court order
restraining the service from such action, shows that the DSS considers
itself to be above the laws of the land, and this is totally
condemnable," the party said in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday
by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
"Even under a PDP government that has nothing but contempt for
constitutional order, the lack of respect for a court order by an
institution of state like the DSS has plumbed the depth of anomie, and
shows that our democracy is in clear and present danger from
anarchists," it said
APC said the 40 armed DSS officers, who came with trucks, shoved the
security personnel at the building aside and broke into the storage
facility from where they carted away over 30 bags filled with the APC
membership registration forms.
The party said the raid came on the same day it challenged the DSS to
make public its findings after the first raid that was widely
condemned within and outside Nigeria, and described as the worst
political scandal in the nation's history.
"It is sensible to conclude that the DSS' second raid was its own
crude reaction to the challenge we posed to it. Apparently yet to find
any evidence of PVC cloning as alleged by the DSS, it is now quite
desperate to manufacture evidence to justify its raids. Or how else
does one explain the claim by the service that its 'findings' will
shock Nigerians, even at a time it is still in search of evidence? Is
this how self-respecting intelligence agencies conduct their
operations?
"It is curious that an institution of state will continue to act like
an enforcement arm of the ruling party by constantly harassing the
opposition. It is strange that an organization that should be
deploying its best staff to gather useful intelligence that can help
the nation to win the anti-terrorism war is instead engaging in
terrorizing the opposition.
"It is time to call the DSS to order, and to remind those at the helms
of affairs that while they may be having a free rein today, they will
one day rue their actions at this critical time in our nation's
history," it said.
APC said it is particularly alarming that the DSS carried out its raid
despite the Nov. 26th 2014 order by Justice Mohammed Nasir Yenusa of
the Federal High Court in Lagos, restraining the DSS from further
sealing off the data centre or taking further steps in connection with
the property.
The party said the moment Nigerians can no longer seek redress in
court, just because the law enforcement agencies have elevated
themselves above the law, the country can as well bid good goodbye to
constitutional order.
It blamed the prevailing atmosphere of lawlessness in the country on
the culture of impunity that has become institutionalized under the
government of President Goodluck Jonathan, wondering whether that is
the legacy the President wants to leave after his tenure.