The Arewa Council of Chiefs in Lagos, yesterday, called on Department of State Services (DSS) to immediately release Sarkin Hausawa of Lagos, Aminu Idris Yaro, and his wife.

The chiefs lamented that Yaro and his wife have been detained by the DSS for about three days.

They also said the duo were held incommunicado after they honoured an invitation by the agency.

The Council of Chiefs, in a statement by their spokesperson and Jarman of Lagos, Yerima Shettima, said they learnt Yaro “is being held in connection with ongoing investigation of former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele.”

“We note also that the Sarkin Hausawa has been held by the DSS incommunicado for the last three days following what initially was a routine invitation which he dutifully honoured.

“The Council is not unaware of the friendship between the Sarkin Hausawa of Lagos and Emefiele. What is regrettable is, however, the unexplained connection of a friend with the ongoing investigation of Emefiele who till this moment, as far as the public is concerned, is only being accused of possession of unlicensed firearm,” the statement said.

According to Shettima, “the Council is concerned that the DSS might typically be used to hunt down respected leaders of the community using terrorism fight as smoke screen.

He said: “While the Council of Arewa Chiefs does not dispute the prerogative of the DSS and any security service in the country to invite any person it deems useful for any of its investigations, we, however, find the detention of the Sarkin Hausawa of Lagos incommunicado and beyond the lawfully-allowed 24 hours by the DSS repugnant to the sensibilities of the traditional rulership system, the Arewa community and the Council of Chiefs.”

“The Council of Arewa Chiefs, and indeed the Arewa Community in the South-West and every decent Nigerian and institution in Nigeria can without a doubt attest to the Sarkin Hausawa’s credibility, leadership, sacrifice, statesmanship, patriotism and unwavering commitment to the interest of the people of Northern Nigeria in the South, and citizens of Nigeria as whole. He is as well known never to lower the bar where the interest of the North, the unity and security of Nigeria, or the welfare of all citizens are involved.”

“While the Council of Arewa Chiefs is very much aware of the obligations on every Nigerian to assist government agencies and institutions in the all-important fight against corruption within the laws of the land, and in building a nation united around the values of justice and honest enterprise, we nevertheless shall remain firm in the belief that security agencies are as much deserving of respect in the same manner the traditional institutions demand to be respected.”

“Traditional rulers will first need to be accorded commensurate respect, their emasculation, maltreatment and harassment has to be ended and their revered place of respect assured before we can place any hope in them to do anything meaningful in the community.”

IN the same vein, the Concerned Northern Forum (CNF) has condemned the arrest and detention Yaro.

The CNF, in a statement by its Board of Trustees (BoT) Chairman, Muhammed Danlami, urged the DSS to make public why the traditional ruler was arrested, saying: “Is Sarki Aminu a staff of the CBN? Is he a director or even a junior staff? The answer remains No.”

Danlami said: “On the contrary, Sarki Aminu Yaro is a traditional ruler, head of Hausa community in Lagos, a peaceful, harmless leader not capable of hurting a fly and a unifying factor who came in as a King and brought together the polarised Arewa community in Lagos and ended decades of rivalry, threats and destruction of lives and property.”

According to him, “the President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu coming from Lagos is well aware of these facts and will concur that Sarki Aminu Yaro has played a very crucial role in neutralizing the tensed atmosphere of the Hausa community and even in relation to other ethnic groups in Lagos.”

Said Danlami: “ordinarily, we would have overlooked the charade and show of shame by the DSS under the leadership of a man that is desperate to keep his job. The once-respected DSS recently embarrassed our country when it was mandated to file charges against Emefiele or release him unconditionally.”

“While Nigerians were waiting for detailed and mind-blowing corruption and terrorism charges against him, the agency came up with an allegation of possession of a Pump Action Rifle against the law-abiding citizen”, he remarked.

“While Nigerians are yet to recover from the shock, they have started another macabre trying to link the revered Traditional Ruler to the Pump Action Riffle (Since that is the only Charge against Emefiele, that is known to the public). Our group sees the arrest of Alh Aminu Yaro Dogara as an affront to Arewa Tradition and a desperate attempt to humiliate our leaders. Which when left unchallenged, will lead to the breeding of internal colonialism by a man we willingly and gladly voted for, despite being challenged morally, historically, and integrity-wise.”

“ We did so to uphold the unity of this country. Our love for the oneness of this country shouldn’t be mistaken for weakness. Also, the arrest of Sarki’s wife is a brutality to the sacred Arewa culture, an innocent woman without any negative incidence in the public domain.”

Danlami continued: “ on the other hand, the DG’s wife has had a negative public display, an incidence involving the now Governor of Kano State, Engineer Abba Kabir at the airport. If any woman needed to be arrested, the DG should look inward and do the needful”.

“Equally, it is on record that the Ooni of Ife, Yoruba’s foremost traditional ruler, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi,  and Gran Imperio Group’s multi-million-naira Essential Homes was in May 2021 by the Foundation for Investigative Journalism for real estate mega fraud after some of his companies allocated apartments and land that existed only on paper to hundreds of investors.”

“To this day, the DSS is yet to arrest the Oba or invite them for questioning to help the suffering Nigerians that are victims of fraud perpetrated by the most powerful men in our country or from untouchable parts of the country.”

Danlami insisted: “the country is already polarised along ethnic line and regional segregation, arresting this important traditional figure will only lead to more harm than good and add more problems to the stock of existing ones.”

“If the DSS is serious about the fight against corruption, they should start with the Ooni of Ife whose case has been in the public domain long before now. While we call on the Traditional rulers of the Arewa extraction to wake up and fight to protect one of their own, because his arrest is an assault and conspiracy against the Northern traditional institution.”

“We wish to admonish the DG of the DSS to know that no amount of desecration of Arewa Tradition will make him stay longer than God’s appointed time on the seat he never dreamt of occupying. It was God’s will for him to be called from retirement to occupy the seat. In the same way Nigerian Customs Service has been returned to Serving Officers, the case of DSS, won’t be different.”

“We wish to also call on the President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to be aware of Banana peels, and not to allow himself to bite the hands that are feeding him as 2027 is just like tomorrow.  We demand for the immediate and unconditional release of Alhaji Aminu Yaro Dogara, because the law is clear, charge the case to court and not continuous detention of an individual without any legal definition. It is also inhumane to arrest and continue to detain such an elderly man with couples of health challenges and keep him away from his family”, he added.