I almost lost my Pregnancy in DSS Custody- APC Data centre Staff

After several weeks of investigation by the Department of State Service over an allege intrusion of INEC database and cloning of Permanent Voters Card by the APC,

The System Administrator of the All Progressives Congress Data Centre in Lagos, Mrs. Esther Enemuwe, has said she almost lost her four-month old pregnancy while in the custody of the Department of State Service for 10 days.

Enemuwe and four other agents of the party were arrested by the DSS at the data office of the party on 10, Ajibola Street, Ikeja, on November 22, 2014 for allegedly cloning Permanent Voter Cards and attempting to hack into the computers of the Independent National Electoral Commission.

While speaking on Sunday, Enemuwe said on the day she was arrested, a team of the DSS officers stormed her home and accused her of committing crimes against the nation.

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She said she was whisked away by the officers to the Lagos command of the DSS, but was subsequently taken to Abuja.

She said, “Seven officers came to my house around 11.45am, led by one Daniel, and they said I had what it takes to destroy the enemy. They took me to their office in Shangisha.

“They insulted me and accused me of being a threat because I was working with the APC. They asked how I could be working for a party like the APC. They said an Igbo girl should not be working for a party like the APC.

“They released me around 8pm and told me to leave, but held unto my phones. They said I should come back on Monday for the phones, but when I got to the office, they handcuffed me and took me to Abuja along with my colleagues. They blindfolded us.”

She said the DSS threatened not to release them until they wrote statements implicating the APC.

She said the officers promised to help her get another job if she could allege that the APC was on a sinister mission to rig the election.

“I consistently told them that my job was to supervise information and collate data, but they said I would never leave their custody as they had the right to hold me for as long as they want. Due to the poor condition I was subjected to, I started having pelvic pains and I began to bleed.

“I complained and was taken to their clinic, but it was a male doctor that was there and he said he was not allowed to touch female patients. He only observed me and took me back to my room. I complained, but they never answered me again.

“They did not allow me to shower daily. At some point, they said we were registering under-aged people. I denied this, but they continued to keep me in their custody. I could not sleep and then I began purging. My health is not alright.”

Another data entry supervisor, Ebun Ilori, said while in the DSS custody, she began her menstrual cycle but the DSS refused to give her a menstruation pad or allow her to shower.

She said she was forced to write a false statement because the DSS agents told her that she would remain in custody for as long as they wanted.

“They told us that we were presidential suspects and that we would die in custody. Whenever we were taken to shower, they would handcuff us and blindfold us. They said the APC had forgotten us and the party had embarked on campaigns.

“They forced me to write that the data we put in our system were those of children. Later, we were brought back to the DSS Lagos office and I told them that I was on my menstrual period. The officers said they could not do anything. I even begged them to give me tissue paper but they refused. I had to use my handkerchief.”

The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the arrest was a “power-show” of the PDP-led Federal Government.

Mohammed said all the evidence presented against the party by the DSS was concocted by the agency to discredit the party ahead of the February elections.

He said, “The DSS shackled the hands and legs of those arrested and blindfolded them while they were being taken to Abuja. The arrested persons remained in chains at the cell where they were made to sleep on the bare floor.

“The workers had guns pointed at their heads by DSS personnel who threatened to shoot them. It is unfortunate that a national institution being maintained by taxpayers’ funds has now become the enforcement arm of the PDP.”

"PUNCH"