Repositioning Efforts Continue As DSS DG Directs Release Of 12 Suspects, Payment Of Compensation
Two months after compensating a Jos-based businessman, who was accidentally shot by a DSS officer in 2016 with N20 million, the Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Mr. Tosin Ajayi, has once again, demonstrated his commitment to human rights.
The DG on Saturday ordered the release of a suspect who was taken into custody by the secret police in 2022, bringing to 12 the number of suspects that have been released this month.
After approving the release of Abdulyekini Salisu, DSS also tendered an apology to him while Mr. Tosin Ajayi directed that he should be paid N10 million as ‘initial compensation’ and further support.
The initial compensation, security sources hinted, was an indication that Salisu may get more support.
The compensation, sources quoted the DG as saying, was a ‘gesture of remorse’ by the DSS to the victim, who, before his arrest, operated a stone quarry on the Zuba- Kaduna expressway.
The DG has also directed that Salisu, like a former detainee who was released earlier, should enjoy free medical services at the DSS hospital for as long as he wishes.
Sources told Team@orientactualmags.com that Salisu is the third celebrated case of several suspects set free by the secret police since Ajayi became the head of DSS in August last year.
Sources added that on July 1, the DSS boss ordered the payment of an undisclosed amount running into several millions of naira as compensation to 11 persons arrested in Osun State on terrorism-related charges.
Mohammed Adamu, Adamu Abubakar, Mohammed Bindi, and Baba Kura Mallam were set free and compensated by the DSS boss.
The sources further disclosed that the DG has ordered that all officers involved in the embarrassing arrests of the suspects in question should face disciplinary action.
In January, news channels published details of the ‘operations of the Department of State Services, which led to the arrest of 10 suspected members of Boko Haram/Islamic State’s West Africa Province in Ilesa, Osun State’.
The operation was conducted at an old bungalow building close to St. Mary Catholic Church, Ifofin, and Ogbon Idio, Ilesa, in Ilesa-East Local Government, Osun State, at about 1am on December 16, 2024, and was conducted by a team of DSS operatives numbering about 30.
News about the arrest of the suspects became public knowledge on January 10, when the DSS sought an order from the Federal High Court, Abuja to detain them for 60 days.
The suspects are Adamu Abubakar (aka Abu Aisha), Babagana Bashuli, Muhammed Adam, Mustapha Abacha, Katuru Muhammed, Babakura Abacha, Muhammed Ciroma, Ali Gambo, Muhammed Umoru, and Muhammed Bundi.
Reports had then claimed that the suspects were arrested while undergoing training on how to manufacture and detonate explosives, disclosing
that its preliminary investigation revealed that the respondents were members of the Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorist group.
In a similar development, the DG ordered the DSS to assist in the reinstatement of Mohammed Ciroma to his school, with a promise to grant him full scholarship to be funded by the Service.
Ciroma Jr. is a 400 Level Computer Science student at Modibbo Adama University,
Yola.
Credible News recalls that earlier this year, the DSS boss ordered the Service to pay N20 million to one Jos-based businessman who was
mistakenly shot by DSS operatives on the trail of a notorious gunrunner The victim and the gunrunner bore similar names.
‘When the committee set up by the DG drew his attention to the case of the artisans and the Jos- based businessman, among many other cases, he ordered the committee to expedite action on their cases. This led to the quick resolution of their cases from among the several cases before the committee’ a top DSS officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.
‘The DG gave a clear directive that he wouldn’t mind the source of any information bordering on the plight of persons who have been unjustly detained by the Service.
In fact, he ordered his public relations department to update him on reports – no matter the source – on persons who may have been unjustly detained or unfairly treated by the DSS.
When officers drew the DG’s attention to a report on Salisu by Sahara Reporters, he immediately ordered the committee to confirm if Salisu’s matter was among the several cases being investigated and give him a detailed report within 48 hours.
Upon realizing via the report that Salisu’s case was that of a mistaken identity of a man linked to kidnapping, the DG immediately ordered his release and, typically, initially compensated him with N10 million’ the source added .
‘Given the DG’s disposition to upholding justice, I know the man will likely get more’ the source also submitted.
Upon assuming office in August 2024, Ajayi promised to reform the DSS to make it more covert and efficient while demonstrating utmost respect for human rights.
To match word with action, he set up a committee to review the cases of all the suspects he inherited as DG, stopped operatives from publicly totting guns, based on his conviction that security services need not be at the expense of human rights.
‘The DG would always tell his officers that he is committed to President Bola Tinubu’s assertion that, under his administration, no citizen would be made to suffer any human rights abuse.
It is noteworthy that the DSS DG has not claimed that there were no abuses in the past. Of course, during operations, security agencies the world over, even in the United States, make mistakes.
What Tosin Ajayi has done is to say, ‘Hey! We are fallible because we are humans.’ But, whenever we realize our mistakes, we shall be man enough to own up, apologize, and where possible, pay compensation’ the source said-Team@orientactualmags.com  Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08035023079, 08059100286, 09094171980 or get in touch via orientactualmag@gmail.com. Thank you
