National Assembly management has dismissed the widespread speculation that the complex was under siege by the operatives of the Department of State Service, DSS.
Recall that a video clip of a similar incident that happened in 2018 has been trending since Monday this week, fueling palpable tension that the main gate of the national parliament was blocked by the members of the nation’s secret police.
In a statement late Wednesday night, the director of information, national assembly, Agada Rawlings Emmanuel cleared the fog, explaining that the regurgitation of the unverified video clip was the handiwork of mischief makers whose objectives were not clear.
He urged the security agencies to trace the source of the video and ascertain the reasons for the release of such video at a time of national elections.
The statement read thus: “The attention of the National Assembly management has been drawn to an unverified video trending on social media tweeted from the twitter handle account of one @Chukwuebuka, alleging the siege of the National Assembly complex by officers of the Department of State Security (DSS).
“The reposted unverified video clip was a reported incident that took place in 2018 at the main entrance gate leading into the National Assembly complex, which is presently under reconstruction near its completion for commissioning.
“It is therefore intriguing to understand what motive this mischief marker set out to achieve with the repost, gauging the political mood of the country and the fourth coming general elections.
“Accordingly, the members of the National Assembly, Staff and the general public are to discountenance the said unverified malicious, mischievous and misleading reposted video as fake news in its entirety as the National Assembly members currently on recess and staff are not under any siege by the DSS.
“The new Clerk of the National Assembly, Alh. Sani Magaji Tambuwal and his management team are fully in charge, focused and determined to achieve their set goals inline with their core mandates to motivate the workforce to provide the expected support services to the National Assembly leadership/ members, federal Government and the general public.
“The management equally wish to extend its esteemed appreciation’s and gratitude to the National Assembly leadership /members, top government officials, security agencies and the general public who through phone calls shown concerns and solidarity. It is expected that the relevant security agencies should further investigate the user of twitter handle account to forestall future abuse and spreading of misinformation into the media space capable of creating panic, mischief and anxiety leading to break down of law and order as this repost, may have be intended.
“The above press release is to clear the doubts, concerns and anxiety in the public domain that “National Assembly, the symbol of our hard earned democracy is under siege by the DSS or any security Agencies of Government”.
