DSS raid on judges Gestapo, descent into fascism under Buhari, says PDP

Describing the night raids and outright destruction of doors to gain entrance to homes of some judges as a descent to fascism, the opposition party in Nigeria, Peoples Democratic party (PDP) has condemned the Gestapo manner the DSS raided the homes of judges to effect their arrest.

Greatly disturbed by the development, the PDP likened the situation to the hellish days of the Gen. Sani Abacha led junta regime, but said even the Abacha days seemed better compared to what the president Buhari administrationis currently doing with the DSS.

In a statement released by the opposition party on Sunday, October 9 and made available to NAIJ.com, the PDP accused President Buhari of attacking the judiciary in a manner even late Abacha never tried. The party accused the president of trampling on the rule of law and destroying the balance in the separation of powers in the political system with interference in the activities of the judiciary and the legislature.

PDP logo

Excerpts from the PDP statement reads: “This slide into fascism has included a sustained attack on the leadership of the National Assembly as President Buhari has sought to break its independence and make it a rubber stamp to suit his will.

 “It is worthy to note that NEVER in the history of our Country has any President attacked the Judiciary in such a manner. Even the late dictator – General Sani Abacha, whose regime is remembered by many as the second worst regime in Nigerian history, did not carry out such Gestapo style attacks on the members of the Judiciary.

“By bringing this attack to the Judiciary, President Buhari has shown that he has no desire to respect the pillars of our democracy. He has shown his desire to kill off our democracy and convert it to an autocracy without checks and balances.”

PDP said the Buhari administration has no respect of the laws of Nigeria and has shown this through constant flouting of court orders.

Destruction caused during raid in one of the judges' home. Naij.com photo.

The party said: “This invasion is the latest in a series of actions taken by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration which reveal its disregard for the rule of law and its abject disdain for the Principle of Separation of Powers. “This inexorable slide into fascism began with the invasion of the Akwa Ibom State Government House by the self same DSS, the continued detention of several people despite Courts ordering their release, the invasion of the Ekiti State House of Assembly and detention of Hon. Akanni Afolabi and the invasion of the Zamfara State House of Assembly.

“The government has no regard for the rule of law. They do not care about Court Orders. This Government has disregarded the Orders of the ECOWAS Court and every other Courts in the land and continue to detain Dasuki illegally. They continue to detain hundreds of Nigerians without bringing them to trial and against valid Court Orders. “For the avoidance of doubt, the Constitution in Section 153(1)(i) and Part 1 of the Third Schedule thereto establishes the National Judicial Council (NJC) and empowers same to regulate and discipline judges across the Country. The proper path to follow to discipline erring judges will be to forward a petition containing any wrong doing to the NJC along with any evidence in support thereof.

“The path not to follow is this Gestapo style invasion in the middle of the night that involves the use of sledgehammers to breakdown gates and front doors for DSS to gain access to the homes.

 “Nigerians can no longer afford to stand aside and watch the Buhari Administration destroy the foundations of our democracy that we have built for several years. Nigerians have a duty to speak out against this sort of tyranny.”

The nature of Gestapo, by Encarta Dictionaries

Gestapo (Geheime Staatspolizei, or Secret State Police), common designation of the terrorist political police of the Nazi regime in Germany from 1933 to 1945; technically, however, the term refers only to its executive branch.

The Gestapo was founded by Hermann Göring, one of Adolf Hitler's lieutenants, in April 1933. As a nucleus he used the political section of the police of the Weimar Republic, but he extended it greatly, removed from it all legal and constitutional restraints, and gave the organization its name. Its new purpose was to persecute all political opponents of the Nazi regime (including dissenting Nazis), not only defensively, in cases of oppositional acts, but also preventively, in cases of suspected or potential opposition. In this role, the Gestapo was to collaborate with the SD (Sicherheitsdienst, or Security Service), an organization of the Nazi Party; the SD did the intelligence work that served as the basis for Gestapo operations. Suspects were arrested and usually placed in concentration camps. It was at the Gestapo's discretion whether or not the arrested were brought to trial and whether or not they were released if acquitted.

In April 1934, Göring's rival, Heinrich Himmler, who headed the paramilitary SS (Schutzstaffel, or Defense Squads; also called Black Shirts), won control over the Gestapo, a step in his ascendancy that in June 1936 carried him to the command of all German police forces. The SS then gradually infiltrated the police, which was reorganized in two divisions: the regular and the security police. The latter, the political police—headed until 1942 by Reinhard Heydrich and thereafter by Ernst Kaltenbrunner—then included the SD, also run by Heydrich; the Gestapo, led from 1936 to 1945 by Heinrich Müller; and the Kripo (Kriminalpolizei, or Criminal Police), a detective service aimed against nonpolitical criminals, run from 1936 to 1945 by Artur Nebe.

In September 1939, after the outbreak of World War II, the security police received a central staff, the RSHA (Reichssicherheitshauptamt, or State Security Head Office), thus preparing it to serve as a nearly omnipotent tool for Hitler's racist and terrorist plans in Nazi-controlled Europe, including extermination policies against Jews and other “undesirables.” Rivalries between the various branches nonetheless continued. Thus, the concentration camps, including the death camps, were actually run by the SS, although technically they were under the control of the Gestapo. After the war, the Gestapo was dissolved and declared a criminal organization.

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