The federal high court sitting in Lagos has ordered the remand of three workers of the state house of assembly for allegedly assaulting officials of the Department of State Services (DSS).
On Tuesday, Daniel Osiagor, the judge, ordered the remand of Ibrahim Olanrewaju, Adetu Adekunle, and Fatimoh Adetola pending their arraignment on Wednesday.
The DSS charged the three workers to court on offences bordering on the alleged assault on the agency’s officials on official duties without any reasonable excuse.
The secret police accused the workers of alleged cyberstalking, recording, and circulating false information on social media to undermine law and order in the country.
The DSS accused the trio of “willful misdirection of electronic messages to social media to embarrass its officials” on duty at the assembly complex on February 17.
When Michael Bajela, DSS counsel, approached the court for arraignment of the workers, the judge said he wanted to go through the file.
On February 17, social media videos suggested that DSS operatives invaded the Lagos assembly and obstructed the lawmakers from holding plenary.
In one of the videos, operatives of the DSS could be seen in a physical struggle with the state’s lawmakers — an incident which elicited mixed reactions from the public.
Details later emerged that the DSS was officially invited to the assembly complex by the acting clerk to assist in maintaining order following intelligence that Mudashiru Obasa, the ousted speaker, planned to resume office on February 18 — a move the house believed posed a security risk.
The Lagos assembly has been making headlines following the removal of Obasa as speaker on January 13 while outside the country and the election of Mojisola Meranda as the new speaker.
On his return, Obasa refused to accept his removal, insisting that due process was not followed and declaring himself the legitimate speaker of the house.
