Security Agents Raid Senator Laah’s Residence in Kaduna

Armed mobile policemen and operatives of the State Security Services (SSS) yesterday, raided the Kaduna residence of the senator representing Southern Kaduna Senatorial Zone, Senator Danjuma La’ah.

La’ah, in a statement in Kaduna, said the security operatives, numbering about 100, arrived his house in buses, Pick-up Vans and a truck at about 5:00am and forced their way into the house.

He said his two nephews and the security guard living in the house were manhandled, adding that without tendering any search warrant from any court of law, they ransacked the house, destroying chairs, doors and other valuables.

He said his nephews were also whisked away to an unknown place and he has not been able to establish any contact with them.

According to the senator, the security operatives used knives to tear open furniture, broke louvers, doors, threw valuables on the ground, destroyed the ceiling of his bedroom and climbed into the roof.

He said: “In the course of their search, they took away a pump action gun with its official permit granted me since 2008.

“My two nephews, Friday Batan and Samson Tanko, who were in the house were manhandled by the armed security personnel and taken away to an unknown place.

“Also my wrist watches, jewelleries belonging to my wife were carted away. I am yet to ascertain the extent of missing valuables in the place....

“I cannot also establish if something very incriminating have not been planted in my residence as part of the orchestrated plot to not only to rubbish my integrity but criminalise me with the aim of prosecuting me.”

According to him, “This is in furtherance to the several interrogation and psychological harassment that the SSS in Abuja has meted out to me ever since I called Governor Nasir el-Rufai to order this year over his clearly biased stand against Southern Kaduna natives in the ongoing genocide there.

“It is on record that some Christian clerics from Southern Kaduna have also been quizzed by the DSS over their condemnation of the killings of members of their congregation....

“I therefore wish to put it on notice, that not only are law abiding, harmless natives of Southern Kaduna being maimed, killed and their communities destroyed by Fulani herdsmen - some of who Governor Nasir el-Rufai has traced back to some African countries and paid large sums of money; he is making it a crime for anyone to mention the killings, including the call for lawful self defence in the face of his failure to stop the killings.”

Efforts to reach the spokesman of the Kaduna State police command, Aliyu Usman, on the issue was abortive as a result of poor telephone network which made it impossible to hear what he was saying.

However, he did not respond to a text message sent to him by our correspondent on the issue following the poor telephone connection.