Barely some days after security operatives swooped on Premium times, security operatives believed to be from the State Security Service (SSS) today broke into the Abuja office of CoreTV, a cable and satellite broadcaster, carting away broadcasting and other related equipment.

According to Ceoafrica, Olajide Adediran, the CoreTV managing director, said that the operatives also shut down the station and barricaded the area during the operation around 4:00 am, even though the media house had no history with the secret police.

“They have never formally notified us of any wrongdoing”, Mr Adediran said, adding that “This takes us entirely by surprise.”

He said on getting to the office, at 34, Sokode Crescent, Zone 5, Wuse, today with his staff, he quickly realised that their access into the area had been denied.

“The entire stretch of the street has been barricaded,” Mr Adediran said.

He said there are signs pasted on the walls of about four buildings in the area that they have been sealed by a court order; he queried that “But even if there’s a court order, why should it be in the middle of the night that they will enforce it and why should they carry our systems and files?

Equipment that the operatives carted away included office computers, digital cameras, documents among other properties of the station.

However it was not independently confirmed whether SSS was responsible for the assault on CoreTV, and the agency’s refusal to appoint a spokesperson running close to two years did little to help all efforts to get clarification.