DSS denies arresting activist, Sanyaolu

The Department of State Services has denied arresting an activist, Juwon Sanyaolu.

The DSS spokesperson, Peter Afunanya, disclosed this in a WhatsApp message while responding to inquiries from our correspondent on Thursday.

Civil society groups have since called for the release of Sanyaolu who according to them, was allegedly arrested by the DSS.

“Juwon Sanyaolu, the Coordinator of the Take It Back Movement is not with the DSS. He was not invited, arrested or detained by the Service,” Afunanya stated in the chat.

A human rights activist and National Coordinator of the Education Rights Campaign, Hassan Taiwo, in a post on X, on Thursday, said he joined “all people of conscience to demand the immediate and unconditional release of the National Coordinator of the Take It Back Movement, Sanyaolu, who was abducted by agents of the Department of State Services around 10:05 pm on June 11, 2024. #FreeJuwonNow.”

The According reports that the Lagos State Police Command also said on Tuesday that it did not have information regarding the alleged arrest of the activist.

When reached for a reaction after previous reports suggested the activist was arrested by the police, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, said he was unaware of such a report.

Hundeyin in a telephone conversation on Tuesday said, “I don’t have that information. I’m not aware of it at all.”

Reports on social media on Tuesday night suggested that the activist, one of the planners of the Democracy Day protest, was picked up by yet-to-be-known security officials in Lagos.

In a distress message sent to our correspondent via WhatsApp on Tuesday night, Sanyaolu wrote, “I have been arrested (by the) police.”

His lines subsequently became unreachable.