I Was Arrested By DSS During My Time As NLC President – Oshiomhole

A former Governor of Edo State, Senator Adams Oshiomhole has claimed that he was harassed and assaulted by Department of State Services (DSS) operatives during his tenure as the President of the Nigeria Labour Congres (NLC).

Speaking during an interview on Channels TV amidst the assault on the current NLC President, Joe Ajaero, in Imo State, Oshiomhole said he was manhandled at the tarmac of the Abuja airport while he was on his way to Delta State.

Oshiomhole said he was arrested and stopped from travelling because the NLC had given an ultimatum to the Olusegun Obasanjo administration.

The former NLC boss said the ultimatum had to do with resisting the attempt to withdraw fuel subsidy because of the consequential increase in the cost of living

He said: “I had a similar experience… I was on my way to Delta State and I went to the airport.

“The then director of SSS ordered that I should be arrested and stopped from travelling because we had given an ultimatum to the then Federal Government headed by President Olusegun Obasanjo.

“They dragged me on the tarmac and I had my cuts all over the place. They forcefully prevented me from flying and took me back to the DSS director general’s office — then Col. Kayode Are.

“He offered to take me to their own hospital and I said, ‘No, I can’t even trust a government that has inflicted this kind of wound on me to treat me. They might as well poison my blood.’ I said I wasn’t going to do that.”

Speaking further, Oshiomhole stated that he ended up in detention after being “taken away” for two days.

“[For] at least 48 hours, the NLC couldn’t locate me. When eventually I was let out, the bandage on my arm with the blood and all that, I told my colleagues, ‘This blood would rather reinforce and whet my appetite for the struggle for justice,’” he added.