In Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, the raid carried out by the DSS was without a great deal of powerful and intense drama.
But here is Governor Wike’s account of what transpired. According to his Special Assistant on Electronic Media Mr. Simon Nwakaudu, he said Wike was alerted by security operatives of the siege in the house of a Federal High Court judge at No. 35, Forces Avenue. He rushed to the scene to intervene but was reportedly harassed by the operatives and pushed around by DSS operatives.
“The illegal failed abduction was led by Mr. Tosin Ajayi, Rivers State Director of the DSS; and Rivers State Police Commissioner, Mr. Francis Odesanya.
“The operatives of the DSS manhandled Governor Wike, pushing him around and injuring his hand. A few of the operatives cocked their rifles and threatened to shoot the governor.
“They were irked by Governor Wike’s arrival at the scene shortly after the failed abduction process began. The governor received security information on the illegal moves, minutes after the operation started.
“The security operatives blocked the entrance of the residence of the judge at about 1am on Saturday morning, claiming that they were acting on orders from above. As they dragged Governor Wike, they insisted that they must be allowed to leave with the judge,” Nwakaudu’s statement read.
Wike, who later spoke with journalists, described the action of the security agents as dangerous to the nation’s democracy and added that he was not sure that President Muhammadu Buhari was aware of it.
He said, “Not under my watch will I allow this kind of impunity to take place. That is why we are here. I don’t know which judge they were detailed to abduct. All I am interested in is that, at this level, it is not allowed.
“He is not a criminal and he is not an armed robber. If the person has committed an offence, invite him. It is only when he refuses to honour the invitation that you can adopt this commando style.
“The Commissioner of Police and the Director of DSS were here. Their operatives cocked their guns and threatened to shoot me. I have never seen that before. Again, this is to tell you what we are facing. We know that more will come. For us in this state, we shall continue to resist it.”
Governor Wike added, “Rivers State is under siege. If this type of thing happens next time, the people wiĺl resist it to the end. They are trying to do something funny in this state, probably to declare a state of emergency.”
We say: Governor Wike has spoken.