DSS accuses septuagenarian of being weapons supplier to robbers

Nigeria’s Department of Security Service (DSS) in the eastern Nigerian city of Enugu has brought a 73- year-old farmer, Anthony Ugwueke, before the Federal High Court in Enugu for allegedly possessing firearms.

The accused person was arrested on a tip off in his house at Aninri Local Government Area on March 22, 2011.

The prosecution and DSS counsel, Mr James Nwanze, said the department raided his house with a search warrant at about 6 a.m. following a tip off and recovered 17 different types of firearms. Nwanze said the department got information that the accused was providing firearms to armed robbers in the area.

“My client took him to its office in Enugu after the search where he made voluntary statement through one of the operatives of the SSS.

“The officer read, interpreted and explained his statement to him in Igbo language after which he thumb printed it,” he said.

The counsel to the accused, Mr Izuchukwu Igwebuike, said the operatives of the DSS raided his client’s house with about six vehicles and without any search warrant.

He alleged that after the raid, the operatives did not show the accused what they recovered from his house but rather intimidated, handcuffed and took him to their office.

“It is true that one of the operatives of the SSS made a statement for the accused but nobody explained the statement to him instead they forced him to thumb-print the statement which he did,” Igwebuike said.

The presiding Judge, Justice Dorathy Agishi, adjourned the case to May 14 for hearing while the accused was granted bail because of his old age.