I"m not dead; I"m well and hearty - Jonathan CSO, Gordon Obua

The former Chief Security Officer (CSO) to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Mr. Gordon Obua, yesterday told Nigerians and the world at large that he was hale and hearty and was being treated with dignity by officials of the Department of State Security (DSS).

Obua, a serving officer of the DSS, addressed the media inside the conference room of the service’s headquarters in Abuja.

Former CSO, Gordon Obua

The rumour mill was agog yesterday that Obua, who has been in detention since last week, had died after being tortured by DSS operatives.

But the man, who looked composed and well kept, said: “I thank Nigerians and members of my family who have expressed very serious concern about my well being in the last six days.

“I want to use this medium to tell Nigerians and members of my family that I am hale and hearty. As a serving officer of DSS and having completed my duty tour with the last president, the service felt that I should give a briefing of my stewardship.

“Nigerians should be assured that DSS is a responsible organisation and I am sure that nothing adverse will happen to me once it is ascertained that I did nothing wrong.”

When reporters attempted to question him, Obua stated: “I am a serving staff of DSS and I have limitations regarding speaking with the press. I thank the Director General of DSS for the way that I have been treated so far.”

However, a coalition of civil society groups has described as disheartening and irritable the arrest and continuous detention of Obua.

The secretary of the group, Mr. Zeb Ijewa, made the statement yesterday at a press conference in Abuja, where he faulted the way and manner in which his arrest was carried out.

According to him, “The penchant for ‘Gestapo style’ of arrest and detention in the present civil dispensation is not only irritable, disheartening and discouraging, but also very unfair and incongruous with democratic tenets.”

Ijewa added: “The continuous detention without arraignment in a competent court of Obua is totally unacceptable in this dispensation, mostly as it affects the rule on law.

“Inasmuch as we respect the desire to effect change and sanitise the system, we urge the present administration to help our democracy grow by avoiding all acts and measures which may be antithetical to the respect of human rights.”

The group recalled that it was in the same manner men of the DSS invaded the homes of the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki, a few days ago.

It termed it a national disgrace and shameful for the authorities to portray revered leaders in the country with such disregard and contempt.

I"m not dead; I"m well and hearty - Jonathan CSO, Gordon Obua