The activists are still being held and their whereabouts have been unknown since they were whisked away in a van and on two bikes by the operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS).
Confusion has continued to trail the arrest of five activists who were arrested for wearing #BuhariMustGo T-shirts to Dunamis International Gospel Centre located along Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Road, Abuja on Sunday.
The activists are still being held and their whereabouts have been unknown since they were whisked away in a van and on two bikes by the operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS).
A delegation led by the human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore had on Monday afternoon met with the Senior Pastor of the church, Dr. Paul Enenche in the church who told them that the activists were arrested and detained by the operatives from DSS Headquarters, Asokoro but not the church security outfit.
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The pastor said he had made efforts as early as 7:00 am on Monday and reached out to the DSS authority to demand their release.
But sources from the DSS told SaharaReporters that it was the church that invited them to arrest the activists and that they picked them up from the church security team at the Dunamis security post.
There are fears for the well-being of the activists who were said to have been tortured and brutalised before they were taken away.
The activists have not been allowed to have access to their lawyers and families since they have been held.
Meanwhile, efforts by SaharaReporters to get the reaction of the DSS Spokesperson, Peter Afunnaya to the issue were unsuccessful as his mobile telephone line was switched off.
He also did not respond to the text message sent to him.
A human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong had faulted the arrest of the activists, saying they committed no offence known to law. He described their arrest as callous, illegal, and one that has no legal basis and justification.
Effiong said, "We've to decide whether to live in a democratic country or under dictatorship. The Church has no business discriminating against people based on their political views. If those activists wore T-shirts with the inscription 'Buhari beyond 2023', would they have been arrested?
"It is more troubling that those arrested were handed over to the SSS (State Security Service also known as Department of State Services). How did we get so low as a country? The civic space is shrinking by the day. Buhari will eventually leave that position but the damage that has been done to our country and civic space will persist after him."