Popular Second Republic politician, Tanko Yakasai has criticized the Department of State Services (DSS) for denying his son, Salihu, access to family and lawyers.
DSS picked up Salihu Yakasai, who is popularly known as Dawisu on Twitter, on Friday, few hours after he took to the social media platform to lambast the All Progressives Congress (APC) for failure to secure the lives and property of Nigerians.
The secret police whisked him from Kano to Abuja.
A day after his arrest, Salihu Yakasai was fired from his job as Special Adviser on Media to the Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje, over “unguarded utterances”.
Speaking on Sunday, Tanko Yakasai said that Salihu’s brother and lawyer were in Abuja on Saturday but the DSS prevented them from seeing the detainee.
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“They were advised to call today (Sunday); we are still waiting for an update from the security operatives, who have yet to contact us.
“I appeal to the authorities to grant him (Salihu) access to his lawyer; he is protected by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in freedom of expression,” he said.
Meanwhile, a civil society organization, Concerned Nigerians (CN) has demanded the release of Salihu Yakasai.
In a Sunday statement, the Convener of CN, Deji Adeyanju said, “Once again, we are constrained to call for the immediate release of Salihu Yakasai who was allegedly abducted by officers of the Department of State Services at about 1:00am, on February 27, 2021, few hours after criticizing President’s Buhari’s handling of insecurity in Nigeria.
“We are totally gobsmacked to note that the government of the day is increasingly becoming insensitive to criticisms, irrespective of the nature of such criticisms. It is even more alarming to note that Mr. Yakasai is a member of the All Progressives Congress, the same party that produced President Buhari. If state actors can indiscriminately arrest members of the President’s party, for criticizing the President, we shudder to imagine what they will do to members of the public and civil society organizations!”