Ex-Head of State says DSS shouldn't go out of laws

Ex-Head of State,

The retired General stressed that the arrest of the judges can be a threat to democracy while warning the Federal Government against allowing security agencies to operate outside their mandate.

Following the clampdown on judges by the Department of the State Security, Gowon urged the Muhammed Buhari led-government to give directives to security operatives not to go outside the laws of the land.

In his words: “It is a serious thing that judges could be arrested. By law, you cannot just arrest anybody just like that. There should have been a proper way of doing it.

“Honestly, it is a serious thing and I hope that the government would give directives to the operatives not to go outside the precepts and the law because if the situation is mishandled, it can be a threat to democracy.

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“But you can really do something to make sure that it does not do further harm than it has done so far.”

Gowon was Nigeria's military head of state from 1966 to 1975.