Former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, has condemned Monday’s invasion of the Sun Newspapers headquarters by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
He urged Nigerians to endure with President Muhammadu Buhari’s government, adding that the regime will soon pass.
He said the raid was barbaric and irresponsible; nothing but a crude and shameless power-show by a weak, dying, paranoid and nervous government.
Fani-Kayode in a statement noted, “I am not in the least bit surprised by this development because that is the way this government has been behaving for the last two years.
“If it is not the homes and offices of opposition figures that they are raiding for no just cause it is that of judges, National Assembly members, bloggers, writers and journalists.
“They do not know how to run a country and their incompetence is not only self-evident but it also speaks volumes. They are always threatening the most basic freedoms of the Nigerian people attempting to destroy and malign them.
“The truth is that they want to turn Nigeria into a police state and to intimidate everyone and anyone that is ready to expose their evil and that speaks truth about their abominable record of performance in office. In this respect they are worse than Hitler’s Nazis.
“What they fail to appreciate is that they will not be in power forever and that governments come and governments go. One day they themselves will be subjected to this kind of wickedness and they will be the ones on the receiving end of this type of evil.
“I am surprised that Acting President Osinbajo, who I have some respect for, can sit by and allow such things to happen under his watch. The EFCC and any other government security or intelligence agency ought to be encouraged to do their job but they must operate within the confines of decency and the law.
“They are not above the law and they should stop breaking it and operating with impunity. They should stop violating the human rights and civil liberties of the Nigerian people in the course of their duty.
“The Acting President should call them to order and keep them on a tight leash. This government must be made to understand that nobody is intimidated by the antics of these gutless and cowardly bullies or by their Gestapo tactics.
“The worse they can do is to kill and they can only do that if God permits it. They are heartless, wicked, contemptuous, crooked, full of poison and evil and God will punish them for their lies and the wickedness that they continue to inflict on good and decent innocent men and women all over this country.
“Yet whatever they choose to do let it be clearly understood that an attack on the media, the press, free speech and press freedom is an attack on us all and we will resist it with every fibre of our being. We cannot be muscled, muzzled or silenced and they have absolutely no right to behave in this barbaric and unlawful manner.
“I condemn this shameless raid and I urge the Sun Newspaper and ALL other media houses, both online and offline, not to allow themselves to be intimidated or cowered into submission. It is only a matter of time before this evil darkness that has gripped our nation and that torments our people passes.”
