For displaying the Russian national flags during the #EndBadGovernance protest in Kano, seven Polish Nationals have been arrested by the Department of State Service DSS.
At a briefing of Diplomatic Corps in Abuja by the Foreign Affairs Minister, Yusuf Tugger, on Wednesday, August, 7, 2024, on the nationwide protest, spokesperson for the Service, Dr. Peter Afunanya, also, informed that the suspects who are students at one of the tertiary institutions in the ancient city, have since been moved to Abuja for further questioning.
The Source reports that from day two of the protest, protesters in Kaduna, Kano and Katsina States were openly displaying Russian flags, as well as beckoning on the Valdimin Putin-led country for assistance .
The action has since attracted the ire of Nigerian authorities, with President Bola Tinubu and the Military High Command describing it as treasonable.
On Tuesday, August, a local tailor believed to be the maker and distributor of the Russian national flags was arrested in the commercial nerve centre of the North, Kano.
The DSS revelation came against the backdrop of enquiries by the Polish Head of Diplomatic Mission in the country regarding the fate and whereabouts of the suspects.
Further throwing light on the development, the DSS spokesperson noted that the arrested polish nationals were not actually targeted ,but were victims of their location at the time security agents were effecting arrests during the protest.
“For the persons we have picked up from Kano because of where they were found during the protest and display of foreign flags in Kano, that was two days ago and as a responsible security organization, we owe it an obligation to do some verification and ascertain basic reasons and circumstances for some cases.
They were picked as a result of security enforcement because of where they were when the incident happened.
It is not a targeted operation on behalf of the Director General, DSS, and Nigeria.
“As the foremost domestic security organization, we believe we have to work in sync will all of you who are men and countries of goodwill and our operations must be governed by democratic principles and protocols that emphasises freedom and human rights ,and of course, intelligence and security governance .We obey all of this whether we are dealing with Nigerians or foreigners”, Afunanya noted .
He, therefore, appealed to the members of the diplomatic corps, not to lend their countries’ support to subversive elements.
President Tinubu at a Security Council meeting on Tuesday directed Service Chiefs to go tough on those flying foreign flags in the country.
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