By Chibuike
Abuja (Sundiata Post) – Senator representing Abia South senatorial district at the National Assembly, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe on Wednesday reacted to his arrest by the Department of State Services, insisting that he cannot be intimidated into not speaking the truth as he is irrevocably committed to being patriotic to Nigeria and Nigerians alone.
Sundiata Post recalls that the senator Abaribe was speaking for the first time at the floor of the senate after his release from detention on Tuesday last week.
Recall that Abaribe was arrested by the Department of State Security (DSS) on June 22, for allegedly aiding and supporting a proscribed group, IPOB.
The Abia senator who came through order 42, narrated his ordeal to members at plenary said:
“I have been deludged by Nigerians and especially my collrsgue who have been very worried about the report that came up regarding my arrest by men of the DSS.
“So today I crave your indulgence and those of my colleagues to state that yes on Friday, 22nd of June 2018 I was arrested at the gate of Hilton Hotel where the International Press Institute Congress was going on.
“I was taken to the office of te DSS by 11:30am and subsequently by 5pm I was taken to my house for a search of my residence. When we got to my house, that was the point at which I was now formally informed why I was arrested because the search warrant stated clearly that I was accused of aiding and sponsoring a proscribed organisation, IPOB.
“So the search of my house was to look for evidence of such after a search which took about another five to six hours, I was taken to the office of the DSS at about 12midnight and now kept there.
” The late Musician called Fela said that ‘when you are inside here, you are inside wall, when you are outside the wall, you are outside the wall’. So when I was inside the wall, the first that received me who helped my transition from freedom to incarceration was former governor of Benue state, Gabriel Suswan. He has been arrested on Tuesday and I was arrested on Friday. As at the time I was released last Tuesday, he still told me that he has not been told why he was arrested.
“But I have been released through the intervention by you Mr President and the leadership of the senate, I want to thank you and my colleagues and I want to use this opportunity to thank you all Nigerians who were very concerned and who did everything to secure my release.
” Let me also say that nothing has been found for the allegations that were made. Uptil this moment, I am still on administrative bail by the DSS, So Mr President every morning I have to report there but of course those things are going to be challanged in the court of law.
“A lot of Nigerians have been worried about this and what that everybody has asked me is where do we go from here. And so Mr President, I want to crave your indulgence to tell every Nigerian where I want to go and where am going to go. And I will do it by giving you a quotation from the 26th President of the United States of America which says: “Patriotism means to stand by the country, it does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official same exactly to the degree to which that president stands by the country. And so, it is patriotic to support president in so far as he efficiently stands for the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose the president who fails to stand by his duty to do well for the country and it is unpatriotic not to talk the truth whether about the president or any one else”
Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe therefore said he will continue to tell the truth, and to continue to stand by this country, stressing that he will continue to say that no person is bigger than the country.