A group, the Civil Societies Coalition for the Emancipation of Osun State (CSCEOS) has strongly condemned the operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) in Osun state over Monday’s attack on two journalists (Timothy Agbor of The Point Newspapers, and Toba Adedeji of the Osun Defender Newspaper), who were discharging their constitutional duties by covering a protest by the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) to the State House of Assembly.
The group also threatened to sue the affected men of the Department of State Service (DSS) in the Court of competent jurisdiction if they failed to tender a public apology to the men of pen profession, particularly, the affected Journalists within fourteen (14) days of committing dastard act.
It would be recalled that a female security operative, who could not be identified, as she was not on uniform or armed accosted Agbor and demanded to know his mission. The journalist who introduced himself to the lady also wanted to know the identity of the lady which got her angry and thereby slapped the journalist.
She later called on other colleagues, who were heavily drunk and brutalised the journalists.
In a statement issued and signed by the CSCEOS’ Chairman, Comrade Adeniyi Alimi Sulaiman and copies were made available to PMParrot on Tuesday, disclosed that the group received the news of the unjust brutality on two journalists by the security agents with shock as they also threatened to gun them down for no just offence than going about their legitimate duty.
The group described the action of the security agents as evil, satanic, inhuman, undemocratic, unconstitutional, illegal, and unacceptable and crime against God and humanity.
Sulaiman who called on the authority of the State Security Service to commence immediate investigation into the matter by fishing out its men that perpetrated the evil act with appropriate punishment so as to serve as deterrents to other men of the agency who were not civil in carrying out their official duties.
The group recalled that some men of the pen profession, including Mr. Dele Giwa, and a host of others had lost their lives through the over zealousness of security agents in the country, adding that this dastardly act should not be allowed to be swept under the carpet.
Sulaiman who called for the immediate removal of the state Director of the DSS, Ike Madunagwu, maintained that his men action showed that they are enemies of current democratic experiment being enjoyed in the land, adding that genuine rights activist and democrat would not allow any uncivilized security agent to return any segment of the country back to the dark days of Military junta.
He also advocated for the protection of media practitioners in Nigeria, explaining that media practitioners who are the voice of the voiceless should not be allowed to be subjected to undue intimidation in the course of carrying out their legitimate duties for the nation.
Packaged by Bunmi Oladejo
