The Upper Chamber of the National Assembly, the mighty Senate has set up two ad hoc special committees to probe the show of might between the officials of the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesdays in FCT, Abuja and the spate of insecurity in the country.
The Department of State Services (DSS) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) were involved in a show of might for over 10 hours on Tuesday when the operatives of the anti-graft agency stormed the home of the immediate past Director General of the DSS, Ekpeyong Ita, to effect his arrest but were resisted by the operatives of the intelligence agency.
Same day at the official quarters of a former Director General of the National Intelligence Agency, Ambassador Ayo Oke, about seven policemen also cordoned off his residence located at 10 Mamman Nasir Street, Asokoro.
The EFCC had obtained search and arrest warrants for Oke and his wife, Folasade, but were denied access by men of the DSS.
The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, announced members of the committees at the plenary on Thursday.
Members of the panel to probe the DSS/EFCC clash are senators Francis Alimikhena (Chairman), Shaaba Lafiagi, Chukwuka Utazi, Abdul-Azeez Nyako, Ajayi Boroffice, Fatimah Raji-Rasaki, Shehu Sani and Dino Melaye.
Those to investigate the insecurity in the country are senators Abdullahi Yahaya, Bukar Abba, Joshua Lidani, Abubakar Kyari, Abdullahi Adamu, Barnabas Gemade, Sola Adeyeye, Biodun Olujimi, Enyinnaya Abaribe, Rose Oko, Magnus Abe and the Majority Leader, Ahmad Lawan (Chairman).
The Senate had on Wednesday resolved to conduct an investigation into the controversy over the attempted arrest of Ita, who served as the head of the DSS from 2010 to 2015.
The ex-DSS boss had been invited by the EFCC for his alleged role in the arms scam involving a former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.), and other service chiefs who have since been arraigned.
Following the refusal of Ita to honour a series of EFCC invitations, some operatives of the anti-graft agency, armed with an arrest and search warrants, surrounded his home at 46 Mamman Nasir Street, Asokoro as early as 4am to prevent him from escaping.
But officials of the intelligence agency guarding the building had prevented EFCC operatives from gaining entry onto the premises.
The EFCC said Oke, who was recently sacked by President Muhammadu Buhari for allegedly stashing away N13bn in a house in Ikoyi, had been refusing to honour invitations for over three weeks.
Also on Wednesday, the Senate condemned the spate of insecurity across the country, blaming it on the collapse of the country’s security structure.
The lawmakers resolved to set up an ad hoc committee of the Senate “to review the current security infrastructure of the country, and in consultation with the security agencies make necessary recommendations on the way forward in the security arrangement.”
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