Nigeria’s security forces stopped lawmakers entering parliament on Tuesday in a blockade seen by the opposition as a bid to intimidate its leaders, but the presidency condemned the move and the acting president fired the head of the security agency.
It is the first such incident since Nigeria became a democracy in 1999 and coincides with increased tension between the National Assembly and the executive ahead of an election in February 2019 when President Muhammadu Buhari will seek a second term.
For some, it revived memories of the decades when the military and security forces held sway over politics in a country that has one of Africa’s largest economies.
Armed men wearing the black uniform of the Department of State Security (DSS) stood at the gates of the building in the capital Abuja and were later joined by police officers blocking entry for up to an hour, witnesses said.
Images of the incident were shared widely on social media. The motive for the blockade was not immediately clear.
But a spokesperson for Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said in astatement that the DSS director general, Lawal Musa Daura, had been fired. Osinbajo is acting president for Buhari, who last week left for a 10-day holiday in Britain.
“The unlawful act, which was done without the knowledge of the presidency, is condemnable and completely unacceptable,”said a separate statement issued later by Osinbajo’s office.
It described the move as an “unauthorised takeover of the National Assembly complex” which was “a gross violation of constitutional order, rule of law and all accepted notions of law and order”.
The statement gave no reason for Daura’s dismissal. The presidency later said Matthew B. Seiyefa, the most senior director in the DSS, will act as director general until further notice.
