Former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El‑Rufai, has said operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), and not those of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), attempted to arrest him on Thursday at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja as he returned from Cairo, Egypt, claiming that the action was initiated by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC).
El-Rufai made the clarification during an exclusive interview on Arise News Channel yesterday, narrating how dozens of security operatives allegedly tried to forcefully detain him without a formal summons.
“I came out of the plane and a young man in a suit said he was from the DSS and wanted me to follow him to their office. I asked, ‘Where is the letter of invitation?’ He said his bosses had it and he would escort me to them. I told him I had to go through immigration first — just bring me the letter.”
According to him, more operatives appeared as he moved towards the immigration desk.
“Apparently they had moved about 50 DSS operatives to the airport with specific instructions that I should be detained, abducted, and detained,” he said.
He said two officers later attempted to force him in another direction.
“They said we needed to go to their office. I said I was not going anywhere. If you don’t have a letter, I’m not going. Even the president cannot tell me I have to do anything. It’s a free and democratic country,” he said.
The former governor said he insisted on stamping his passport and walked through immigration, noting that officials did not officially stop him.
“If there was any issue that was really official, the DSS operatives would have told me, ‘We’ve been asked to hold your passport’. They stamped it and gave it to me and I walked out, but they kept following me,” he added.
El-Rufai also alleged that one of his aides was assaulted when security agents attempted to seize his passport.
“One of my aides took the passport away from me. That’s the aide who 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. He said a growing crowd at the airport prevented his detention.
“Passengers and people who came to receive me surrounded us and said that’s not going to happen. They were overpowered.”
The former governor clarified that earlier reports linking the EFCC to the incident were incorrect.
“My lawyers mentioned EFCC, but I want to say very clearly, it wasn’t the EFCC. It was the DSS. The DSS were procured to abduct me by the ICPC,” he stated.
He added that the EFCC had officially invited him for questioning and that he had responded through his lawyers.
“The EFCC wrote to me while I was away saying they would like to have a chat. My lawyers replied that I was on an annual vacation and once I return I will inform them. I will celebrate my birthday and come to see you at 10 a.m. on February 16.”
El-Rufai warned that such actions could undermine confidence in security institutions.
“Once people begin to lose confidence in the neutrality of such institutions, we are on our way to anarchy,” he added.
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