By Tom Moses & Chioma Onuegbu

UYO—The elders and people of Akwa Ibom State, yesterday, raised alarm over what they described as unwarranted invasion of the state’s Government House complex by agents of the Department of State Security, DSS, last Friday.

Gov Emmanuel Udom

President of Akwa Ibom Elders Forum, Otuekong Idongesit Nkanga, who addressed newsmen in Uyo, said that the invasion by DSS operatives was carried out under the pretext of routine surveillance operation, whereas the real intension was to kidnap Governor Udom Emmanuel.

“We see this action as a clear breach of the immunity of the governor and a continuation of the programmed harassment which the federal authorities have persistently visited on opposition elements after the elections.

“These actions are obviously meant to harass, intimidate and humiliate the government of the state and its people, otherwise, why are we being consistently visited by this level of crude action by a federal agency in a democracy?”

He decried the partisan nature in which the DSS has been interfering with normal procedural matters and called for a stop to same before things get out of hand.

“The strong-arm show exhibited by the invading team which held the Government House Complex and the adjourning areas of Uyo, the Akwa-Ibom State capital to ransom, is a clear evidence that the action was not just a routine surveillance act but a calculated attempt to intimidateg the governor and his government with the federal might.

“We are, therefore, compelled to speak out and condemn this emerging face of fascism before it consumes our well-cherished democracy. We, the elders of the state, will not keep quiet and watch our cherished institutions being raped and desecrated on the altar of partisanship,” he insisted.