The families of Nurudeen Adesiyan and Kehinde Akintunde have appealed for help after the couple was taken away by men believed to be from the Abuja headquarters of the Department of State Services.

Nurudeen and Kehinde were reportedly apprehended on November 29 at Arowosola Quarters, Ajape, Modakeke, Osun State.

According to family members, the lovers have been held incommunicado since their arrest, and their whereabouts are unknown.

Speaking with Sunday PUNCH, Boyenle Adesiyan, the elder brother to Nurudeen, said efforts to locate the duo had been abortive.

He said the DSS officers, who invaded their house around 5 am with four vehicles, did not disclose the station they came from and where they were taking the lovers to.

Boyenle said, “My brother (Nurudeen) texted me around 5 am on the 29th of November, telling me that security men were at our house but they were yet to arrest anybody. I replied to the message immediately but Nurudeen didn’t respond.

“Around 6 am, my mother called to inform me that the personnel hijacked the door from her when she wanted to bathe. She said the officers took her phone and asked who ‘Kehinde 2’ on her call log was.

“She said the officers asked her to lead them to Kehinde’s house, unknown to them that the said Kehinde was with her and standing beside them. Kehinde is my brother’s fiancée and she stays in our house frequently. They arrested my brother and Kehinde, and my mother, and led them to Kehinde’s house.”

According to Boyenle, when the men got to Kehinde’s house, they allegedly ransacked the place and destroyed some things.

She added that the operatives also seized phones and beat up the victims.

“They arrested every member of Kehinde’s family and drove them away. But when they got to Community Grammar School, they freed Kehinde’s family members. But she and my brother, Nurudeen, were taken away.

“Since then, we have not heard anything from the DSS, Nurudeen and Kehinde. The DSS didn’t tell us where they came from or where they were taking our people to. We visited the DSS office in Ile-Ife, and we were told the officers who arrested Nurudeen and Kehinde were personnel of the service.

“However, they didn’t disclose where they came from. When we visited their office a second time, they didn’t give us any reasonable response again.

“We want the general public to help us; we want to know the whereabouts of our people and the offence they were arrested for. They are not criminals. They have rights,” she stated.

Giving an account of the arrest, Gbenga Akintunde, an elder brother to Kehinde, said the DSS officers threatened to shoot him when he demanded what his sister’s offence was and where they were taking him to.

He said, “My mum called me very early to inform me that some security operatives had invaded our house. When I got to our house, I met the DSS officers. I asked them what the issue was but instead of answering, they threatened to shoot me.

“They broke into our house, beat and arrested everybody, including my mother. They also seized their phones and drove them away without leaving any information. When they got to the community school, they freed the people and returned their phones, while they drove away Kehinde and her boyfriend.

“We went to the DSS office in Ile-Ife to report the case and we were told that the personnel were DSS officers, but we were not told where they came from.

“We have not been able to reach both Kehinde and Nurudeen since then. Sometimes, their phone would ring but nobody would answer the call.”

Gbenga said he was not allowed to enter the DSS office when he visited to ask if the lovers were being held there.

Efforts to get a reaction from the Osun command of the DSS proved abortive.

But a credible source at the headquarters told Sunday PUNCH that the operation was carried out by personnel from the national headquarters.

“We are aware of the case but we didn’t carry out the operation. The operatives were from Abuja,” the source said.

The DSS head office in Abuja does not have a spokesman.