The Department of States Service (DSS) has refuted reports claiming that its officers had raided the headquarters of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Abuja.
The denial comes following Wednesday’s allegations by NLC, that the Service had sent armed men to its office, and that they had carted away some documents.
According to the union, the operatives stormed the Labour House around 8:30 pm.
“They broke in and ransacked the bookshop on the 2nd floor carting away hundreds of books and other publications,” NLC’s PRO, Benson Upah, disclosed in a statement.
“The invading troop claimed that they were looking for seditious materials used for the #EndBadGoveranance protests.
The NLC said it was not immediately able to ascertain all the things taken away from its offices.
However, in a response on Thursday, Peter Afunanya, DSS PRO, said its personnel were not responsible for the ransacking of the labour union’s office.
“Good morning dear friends. Pls kindly note that the Service (DSS) did not carry out any operation at the NLC office in Abuja,” Afunanya said.
NLC later condemned the raid and demanded the immediate withdrawal of the security operatives from its headquarters.
“The Nigeria Labour Congress condemns in its entirety this new low in security operations in Nigeria. The armed security operatives showed no legal document permitting them to invade the premises of the Nigeria Labour Congress in the ungodly hours of the night,” the NLC said.
“Even in the dark days of military rule, NLC secretariats were never invaded and ransacked by security agents. Today is indeed a very sad day for our democracy.”
