Expedite action to reveal those behind invasion of CISLAC office, HEDA tells Buhari

The Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA), a civil society organisation, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that persons behind the “invasion” of the Abuja office of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) are revealed.

Auwal Musa, executive director of CISLAC, had alleged that operatives of the Department of State Security Services (DSS) stormed the organisation’s office on December 27.

Speaking on the development in a statement on Saturday, Olanrewaju Suraju, HEDA chairman, said such “unprofessional conduct” should not be condoned.

“As at the time of putting the pen to paper, HEDA learnt that the true identities of the invaders are yet to be unraveled, and the purpose of such unprofessional conduct,” the statement reads.

“Howbeit, we condemn in a strong terms any unwarranted invasion, incursion or any other act calculatedly targeted at civil society organisations and other groups or individuals who are on course in the fight against corrupt practices in the country.

“We reiterate that in our quest to protect and promote universally recognised human rights, accountability and environmental justice in Nigeria and Africa, in accordance with international standards, through research and publications, campaigns, human rights education and empowerment.

“Considering the recent activities of criminals using official security covers to perpetrate wanton criminalities in the recent past, we therefore condemn in strong terms and urge President Buhari to expedite action to order investigation to reveal the true identity of those who carried out such act and the reason(s).

“We urge every government agency, especially those in the security sector, to be wary of persons or group of persons who are only good at impersonating them (security agencies) to perpetuate evil in the country.”