DSS lied to justify assault on judiciary – Wike

Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike,
has said the Department of State Services
resorted to “deliberate misinformation and
concocted stories” to justify its
“unconstitutional” assault on the nation’s
judiciary.
Wike maintained that the DSS lacked the
constitutional powers to be involved in the
legal process to discipline a serving judicial
official, pointing out that a legal process
must be followed.
The DSS had stated that its operatives
swooped on some judges in the country
because there were allegations that they
(judges) were involved in corrupt practices,
adding that various amount of money, in
different denominations, were found in the
judges residences.
Speaking during a special dinner for the
management and players of Rivers United
at the Government House, Port Harcourt, on
Saturday, Wike said the “weak blackmail of
the DSS” would not lessen the crime it had
committed against the Nigerian state by
assaulting the judiciary.
He said, “Their blackmail stories will not
move me. They will concoct all kinds of
stories to justify this undemocratic illegality
perpetrated against the judiciary.
“It is really unfortunate that DSS would
concoct a false defence that $USD2 million,
(that is N900m) was found in the house of
the judge. It is unfortunate that the DSS is
coming up with flimsy excuses.”
However, a Government House statement
by Wike’s aide on Electronic Media, Simeon
Nwakaudu, read, “It will be recalled that the
governor and the DSS operatives had their
encounter outside the gate of a judge’s
residence.