>
A team of security agents led by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) swooped on the aircraft of presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, as it landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on Sunday morning.
The former Vice President just returned from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where he had been on vacation. He landed at about 1.30am and found a special security team waiting to search his aircraft.
Atiku confirmed the development on Sunday afternoon.
It was gathered that after the search which was captured on video, nothing incriminating was found.
Atiku and his team were reportedly held back for about 30 minutes.
A source said the search was probably necessitated because the arrival was unexpected. He had been due to arrive on Monday.
Fellow PDP members, Senator Ben Murray Bruce and Reno Omokri have condemned the exercise, describing it as harassment and intimidation.
Reno Omokri tweeted: “@Atiku just returned to Nigeria and @MBujari sent a team of Army, Police, Custom & Immigration officers to surround then search his plane. What were they hoping to find? What is Buhari afraid of? Why this harassment? If Buhari performed would he be afraid of losing?”
Murray-Bruce tweeted: “I totally condemn this reckless harassment of @atiku the candidate of the @OfficialPDPNig as he landed in Abuja. Nigeria is not a fascist state. We will not return to a jackboot dictatorship. This government should face Atiku at the polls, not with force”