TheNewsGuru

Tag: dss

  • Supreme Court adjourns Nnamdi Kanu’s case

    Supreme Court adjourns Nnamdi Kanu’s case

    The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned hearing in the suit filed by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu until Sept. 14.

    The self-determination agitator had on Nov. 3, 2022, filed an appeal at the Supreme Court against the Court of Appeal’s verdict stopping his release from the DSS custody.

    Kanu appealed against the Oct. 28, 2022 decision of the appellate court, which stayed the execution of its earlier order acquitting him of all charges and directing his release from the custody of the secret police.

    Prior to the hearing, Kanu’s Special Counsel had urged the Supreme Court to ensure justice in the trial of his client.

  • Why Buhari must release Nnamdi Kanu before May 29 – Iwuanyanwu

    Why Buhari must release Nnamdi Kanu before May 29 – Iwuanyanwu

    The new President General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to release the Leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu from DSS prison.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Chief Iwuanyanwu made the call at his inauguration as the new president-general of the apex Igbo body held at the old Government Lodge in Enugu on Sunday during the Imeobi meeting (inner caucus) of the group.

    Iwuanyanwu said Kanu is very crucial for any key discussion to bring peace to the South East and that it is not possible to negotiate any peace while the leader of the proscribed IPOB is in prison.

    Iwuanyanwu said the security situation in Southeast was very disturbing, adding that there was very urgent need for a Peace Summit in Igboland.

    “I will therefore make a special appeal to Mr. President, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari GCFR to release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu before the expiration of his tenure in May 29.

    “Kanu is very crucial for any key discussion and it is not possible to negotiate any peace while Nnamdi Kanu is in prison.

    “It is also important to note that the judiciary has discharged and freed Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. It will be the joy of many Igbo people and Nigerians to see Mazi Nnamdi Kalu released from detention,” Iwuanyanwu said.

    He added that there was a report that his health was deteriorating and, “I feel it is important that he is released to have access to his medical doctors so that he does not die in the prison”.

    Iwuanyanwu said he never nurtured the ambition to be the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, instead, he had the ambition of becoming the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    “I contested for the Presidency on three occasions but I did not succeed. I took my losses in good composure knowing fully well that as a Christian, all powers and promotion come from God.

    “But today, destiny has placed squarely on my shoulders the duty of leading the Igbos as the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide.

    “I therefore have a duty to valiantly defend Igbo course and I promise Ime-Obi and all Igbo people that by the grace of God I will not fail them,” he promised.

    The inauguration was attended by Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu state, Gov. Charles Soludo of Anambra state and other prominent Igbo leaders like Labour party presidential candidates, Peter Obi, Enugu governor-elect and former Imo State governor, Chief Ikedi Ohakim.

    Others were members of the National Assembly; Ministers;Chief Adolphus Wabara; former President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, amongst others.

    The governors of Ebonyi, who is the Chairman, South-East Governor’s Forum, David Nweze Umahi, Imo Governor, Hope Uzodinma and Abia state governor, Okezie Ikpeazu who were absent at the meeting, were represented by their deputies.

    TNG reports Iwuanyanwu promised to serve the Igbos diligently and defend their course.

  • Alleged terrorism financing: Court rejects Tukur Mamu’s bail plea

    Alleged terrorism financing: Court rejects Tukur Mamu’s bail plea

    A Federal High Court, Abuja, on Thursday, rejected Tukur Mamu’s bail application.

    Justice Inyang Ekwo, in a ruling, held that he took note of the averments in paragraphs 3 (i), (j), (k), (1), and (m) of the counter-affidavit of the Department of State Services (DSS) which were not controverted by Mamu on the implication of granting bail to him.

    “Generally, the law is that where averments in a counter affidavit are not countered, they are accepted to be true and correct and they require no further elaboration.

    “This is because facts admitted need no further proof,” he said.

    Ekwo said though Mamu averred that the DSS cannot take care of his health challenge and that he was suffering from Cardiac Decomposition on background, Thyro-cardiac disease, he held that the court would have to weigh some conditions in exercising its discretion.

    He said these included the availability of appropriate or adequate or peculiar medical care where the defendant/applicant is in custody.

    “Again, the Court will weigh the evidence to see whether the custodians allow the applicant requisite access to medical treatment peculiar to his medical condition.

    “The Court will also take into account the attitude of the defendant/applicant to the medical facility provided to him by his custodian.

    “Where there is a medical facility by the custodian of the defendant which can adequately take care of the medical condition of the defendant, then the application for bail on medical ground will not be countenanced by the court,” he said.

    Besides, he said where the custodian does not have the medical facility to take care of the medical condition of the defendant but is capable of ensuring that the defendant has access to medical facility suitable for his medical condition, the court would not grant the bail.

    “Now, where the defendant willfully rejects the medical facility given to him by his custodian merely for the fact that such facility is not up to the standard that he expects, then, he has no good medical grounds for application for bail.

    “A defendant who is in the custody of the state or agency of the state like the complainant/respondent (DSS) must understand that his medical care is at the expense of the state and must be reasonable in his demands,” the judge said.

    Justice Ekwo observed that it was averred that it was after Mamu declined the DSS medical services that he was taken to Arewa Specialist Hospital and Diagnostic Center, Jabi by the security outfit.

    “There, adequate tests and treatments were administered at the expense of the complainant/applicant (DSS) and he was diagnosed with (Moderate Obstructive Sleep Apnea) and use of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) was recommended among other options at the hospital

    He said the DSS, however, averred that the hospital was sufficiently capable of handling the medical condition of the defendant and that it was able and willing to take responsibility for the treatment of Mamu.

    He said the agency also undertook to ensure that Mamu had access to his daily medication for the management of his pre-existing health condition as well as ensuring access to adequate tests and treatments when necessary, during the trial.

    “With this undertaking, this application for bail on medical grounds does not hold water.

    “In such situation where the custodian has demonstrated that it is capable of giving the Defendant in its custody access to appropriate and adequate medical facility, it is for the court to exercise its supervisory power over the medical treatment of the defendant while in custody and in the course of trial,” he said.

    The judge held that in exercising his discretion on application for bail on allegations contained in a charge sheet punishable with imprisonment for a term exceeding three years, “the discretion of the court to grant bail will not be exercised in favour of the defendant where any of the conditions in Section 162 of the ACJA 2015 Is established.”

    He said upon considering the nature of the offence on the charge sheet before the court and the fact that Mamu did not rebut allegation of breach of terms of bail, he was persuaded by the grounds given by the DSS for the court not to exercise discretion to grant bail as prayed by Mamu.

    “This application is consequently refused and Is hereby struck out. This is the order of this court,” Justice Ekwo declared.

    The DSS had, on March 21, arraigned Mamu on 10-count bordering on terrorism financing, among others.

    Mamu, who pleaded not guilty to the counts, prayed the court for a bail on the grounds of ill-health.

    Mamu, through his counsel, Sani Katu, SAN, had told the court that a bail application dated March 8 and supported by 21-paragraph affidavit, an exhibit with a written address had been filed, where issue of bail was captured but counsel to the Federal Government, Aderonke Imana, an Assistant Chief State Counsel, urged the court to dismiss it.

    The judge, who adjourned the matter for ruling, ordered Mamu to remain in the DSS custody pending the hearing and determination of the bail application.

    Mamu was arrested on Sept. 7, 2022 by Egyptian security officials at the Cairo International Airport, on reasonable suspicion of financing Boko Haram terrorism activities.

    He was alleged to have convinced the terrorists to discuss ransom payments with individual families of the hostages of the train attack instead of the Chief of Defense Staff Committee set up by the Federal Government for his personal financial gain.

    He was said to have been nominated by the terrorists that attacked the Abuja-Kaduna bound train sometime in March 2022 which took scores of persons hostage.

    Mamu was alleged to have collected ransoms on behalf of the Boko Haram terrorists from families of hostages, confirmed the amount and facilitated the delivery of same to the terrorists.

    He was said to be in possession of large sums of unexplained cash and property that he tried to conceal upon arrest by directing his proxies to change their locations.

    Though Mamu was said to have denied these allegations, witness and victim statements and the investigation by the security outfit was said to have revealed a prima facie case against him.

  • Just In: DSS to investigate assault on staff in Adamawa supplementary poll crisis

    Just In: DSS to investigate assault on staff in Adamawa supplementary poll crisis

    The Department of State Services (DSS) says it has started an investigation into an attack on one of its personnel in Adamawa State.

    The secret police said this in a statement on Sunday evening.

    A DSS official was also recorded when he was being assaulted by persons believed to be working for politicians.

    Peter Afunanya, DSS spokesperson, in the statement said: “The attention of the Department of State Services (DSS) has been drawn to a trending video on the social media in which someone suspected to be its staff was allegedly manhandled by some political miscreants in Adamawa State. This followed developments arising from the supplementary governorship election in the State.

    The Service wishes to inform the public that it has commenced a full investigation into the circumstances that led to the incident.

    “While calling for calm, the Service also implores concerned parties in Adamawa State to remain peace loving and shun violence.”

    There has been controversy over the Adamawa election.

    Mr. Hudu Ari, the Resident Electoral Commission (REC) for Adamawa State, declared Senator Aisha Dahiru, aka Binani, as winner of the election.

    Before his declaration, Prof Mele Mohammed, the returning officer, had declared results of 10 of the 20 Local Government Areas where supplementary election took place.

    He had scheduled the continuation for 11am on Sunday.

    INEC subsequently waded in and halted the process while the REC and some other officials were summoned to Abuja.

  • Obi’s alleged pressure to leave Nigeria baloney – By Ehichioya Ezomon

    Obi’s alleged pressure to leave Nigeria baloney – By Ehichioya Ezomon

    Things are happening – and moving in rapidity in the polity to bemuse ordinary Nigerians – since the conduct of the two-stage 2023 General Election on February 25 and March 18, respectively.

    It’s not unusual – particularly in a presidential ballot – for those not declared winners and returned elected by the electoral umpire, to protest and call for its cancellation and conduct of a fresh franchise.

    That’s why it wasn’t out of place for the some opposition parties and their candidates to lay siege to the offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Abuja and across the states, to rail against alleged manipulation of the poll, to deny them the voters’ mandate.

    But it becomes problematic when losers are in court to “retrieve their stolen mandate,” storm the streets, make media rounds, and call for the election annulment, an Inerim Government or a Military upstage of the incoming government.

    This is the pastime of the Obi-Datti ticket of Labour Party and their supporters since former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi came third in the February 25 poll that pollsters and prophets had predicted he’d win by a landslide.

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of Peoples Democratic Party and former Lagos State Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu of All Progressives Congress were in second and first place, accordingly.

    Having satisfied the requirements of the law – by scoring the highest number of votes cast, and securing one-quarter (25%) of votes in not less than 24 States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja – Tinubu was declared the winner and returned President-elect of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    The Obi-Datti campaign and Labour, and their supporters in the ObIdients Movement and backers have discredited the poll, called for its cancellation, annulment, and establishment of a civilian interim or Military government.

    The Department of State Services (DSS) has alerted about moves by anti-democratic elements to seek to truncate the system by setting up an interim government.

    The DSS in a statement by its spokesman, Dr Peter Afunanya, says that it “considers the plot, being pursued by these entrenched interests as not only an aberration but a mischievous way to set aside the Constitution and undermine civil rule as well as plunge the country into an avoidable crisis.”

    “The illegality is totally unacceptable in a democracy and to peace loving Nigerians, even more so that the machination is taking place after the peaceful conduct of the elections in most parts of the country,” the DSS adds.

    The spy agency relays the plotters’ modus operandi, noting that in their many meetings, “they have weighed various options, which include, among others, to sponsor endless violent mass protests in major cities to warrant a declaration of state of emergency.”

    “Another is to obtain frivolous court injunctions to forestall the inauguration of new executive administrations and legislative houses at the federal and state levels.

    The DSS says “it fully supports President Muhammadu Buhari in his avowed commitment to a hitch-free handover on May 29, 2023 and will work assiduously in that direction.”

    “It also supports the Presidential Transition Council and such other related bodies in the states. We will collaborate with them and other security and law enforcement agencies to ensure seamless inauguration come May, 29, 2023.

    “Consequently, the service strongly warns those organising to thwart democracy in the country to retract from their devious schemes and orchestrations.

    “Stakeholders, notably judicial authorities, media and the civil society are enjoined to be watchful and cautious to avoid being used as instruments to subvert peace and stability of the nation.

    “While its monitoring continues, the DSS will not hesitate to take decisive and necessary legal steps against these misguided elements to frustrate their obnoxious intentions,” the statement adds.

    Exactly what Nigerians, including the 36 State Governors, Members of the National Assembly, Senior Lawyers, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Civil Society Organisations, Ethnic Nationalities and Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) have asked the DSS to do!

    But while the APC and PDP have condemned the calls for an interim government and urged the DSS to expose, arrest and prosecute the alleged masterminds, Labour has urged the DSS to identify and punish those it says disrupted and manipulated the election.

    It may be self-implicating for Labour to condemn and call for sanction against purveyors of an inerim government or a Military junta in the country.

    When the ObIdients stormed the streets of Abuja, and marched to the Defence Headquarters, their sole message was the foisting of an illegal government on Nigeria.

    On his media rounds lately, Labour’s Vice Presidential candidate, Sen. Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed’s canvassed against inauguaration of President-elect Tinubu and his administration on May 29.

    Baba-Ahmed said a Military takeover of power is preferable to President Buhari handing over to Tinubu as President of Nigeria.

    Although Obi’s denied that, “at no time throughout the campaign and now did I ever say, think, or even imply that the 2023 election is, or was a religious war,” he’s failed to rein in his deputy and supporters in their shopping for an unelected government from May 29.

    Nigerians may recall that during the poll cycle, Obi was quoted at religious and worship places to call on the Church and Christians to “take back your country.”

    And it’s probably why Obi’s haunted when the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, flew into the United States, to counter negative reportage on the election allegedly at the behest and on behalf of the Nigerian opposition.

    In the process of his visits to major media organisations in the U.S., Mohammed levelled “treason” against Obi and his supporters.

    Obi’s decried this in a statement: “The present attempts by the APC as a party, and the APC-led government through some government officials and agencies to divert our attention from our blatantly stolen mandate is unfortunate and sad.

    “These have come and continued to manifest in different ways, such as the malicious accusation of the Minister of Information, Mr Lai Mohammed, the circulation of a fake doctored audio call, and pressure on me to leave the country.”

    But could Mohammed’s gambit – and the DSS threats – prompt Obi to develop cold feet, and allege being pressured to go into exile?

    Obi’s claims are a red herring that won’t fly because soon, we’ll hear of Obi being enticed with women or offered billions or trillions to drop his poll petition in court.

    Obi has lost his mojo since the government challenge of the smear campaigns by opposition against the February and March elections, and the leak of the audio recording of his reported call to owner of Winners Chapel, Bishop David Oyedepo, to assist him to fight alleged “religious war,” as Obi labels the presidential poll.

    It took Obi days to appear on the scene, to denounce government for linking him to alleged treasonable activities, and debunk the audio call.

    And when he did, it’s to blame the government and its officials, the APC, and impliedly President-elect Tinubu for the reported leak.

    There’s something Obi’s hiding from the public, which makes him want to vote with his feet, perhaps to avoid ensnared by the laws.

    Obi’s alleged distraction by the APC and its government with treasonable offence, and leak of his audio call with Bishop Oyedepo is a smokescreen for cover-up, and diversion from reality.

    It’s the first time Nigerians would hear a presidential candidate, who claims to win an election – and is in court to “retrieve the stolen mandate” – wants to go into exile due to alleged pressure on him.

    Who are those pressuring Obi to “japa”? Is it the APC, President-elect Tinubu, or the Buhari administration? What for? Is it due to the court process to regain his “stolen mandate”?

    Obi needs to come clean with Nigerians who’ve stood by him this while!

    Unless the forces pressuring him – which he’s reluctant or afraid to reveal are such that threaten his safety in Nigeria – Obi should stay behind and focus his commitment “to lawfully and peacefully retrieve the people’s ‘mandate,’ and secure and unite the nation.”

     

    *Mr Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos, Nigeria.

  • DSS, police given 48 hours to arrest Fani-Kayode

    DSS, police given 48 hours to arrest Fani-Kayode

    The Department of State Services, DSS, and Nigeria Police Force have been urged to arrest a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Femi Fani-Kayode, within 48 hours, before he sets Nigeria ablaze.

    The Nigerian Democratic Youth Front, NDYF, warned the police and DSS to stop “dilly-dallying” and arrest Fani-Kayode before his “injudicious, uncultured and inflammatory speeches” spark widespread civil disturbance and national insecurity.

    The group berated Fani-Kayode for saying Muslims would be an endangered specie if Labour Party’s Peter Obi was declared winner of the presidential election.

    They noted that Fani-Kayode’s remark was uncalled-for.

    He made the call while cautioning the Federal Government on the dangers of indulging Fani-Kayode and his insensitive and inciting comments.

    Addressing a press conference on Thursday in Abuja, NDYF president, Gideon Obong and Secretary General, Usman Ahmed Yahaya said: “Fani-Kayode had in one of his recent senseless rants on Twitter attempted to defame Obi before our Muslim brothers and sisters by gloating that the purported leaked telephone conversation between him and Bishop Oyedepo makes him unfit to lead a multi-religious, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural state as a hater of non-Christians.

    “But a man driven by avarice and prejudice like Fani-Kayode would even feign ignorance to get his already dirty self dirtier for scrubs.

    “Nigeria Police and the Department of State Security to arrest Femi Fani-Kayode within 48 hours before he set the country in flames.”

  • Interim government: DSS and reverse psychology – By Promise Adiele

    Interim government: DSS and reverse psychology – By Promise Adiele

    Nigerian famed state security apparatus, the Department of State Services (DSS) recently nudged Nigerians, fatigued by the post-election grotesque dance of vicious malevolence, by remarking that it uncovered a plot to install an interim government in the country.

    That assertion, to a well-meaning mind, in addition to its puerile and infantile suggestiveness, echoes ill-conceived, misplaced convictions signposting reverse psychology. Indeed, there seems to be no end to multiple chicaneries in Nigeria’s current political evolution enacted by the ruling APC.

    Shockingly, DSS has staked a disingenuous claim in the entire political drama. Nigerians must be worried about it. The DSS is saddled with the onerous responsibility to secretly protect the country without Nigerians being aware.

    Therefore, one is nonplussed to hear the same DSS announce that they uncovered a plot to install an interim government in the country. If there is any iota of truth in the assertion, the DSS should quickly arrest the plotters of the national tragedy.

    Failure to do this means that the DSS has failed in its duties. Or perhaps, it is all a hoax. There is no plan to install any interim government – the DSS is slumbering in the ritual of nostalgic remembrance of the Babangida-Shonekan era.

    The DSS interim government ethico-political misadventure reminds me of a popular Igbo lore about Ofeke the drunk. The story has it that in Ofeke’s bid to acquire many jars of palm wine, he decided to steal the intoxicating liquid from palm wine tappers.

    However, to prepare the minds of the villagers or possibly preempt their reactions, he announced his awareness of a plan by some rascals to steal palm wine from the tappers. Many people believed him, praising him for his foresight.

    However, the town crier confronted Ofeke and admonished him thus – “Ofeke, there is no plan by any rascal to steal palm wine. If any palm wine is missing, then you stole it. You are the drunk and know where all the palm wine are kept. We are not deceived by your false alarm. If you know some rascals planning to steal palm wine from the villagers, mention their names, lead us to them quietly and they will be apprehended”.

    Ofeke, like the proverbial tortoise whose antics were exposed by the hen, quietly withdrew into oblivion, and no one heard from him again. Need I say more? It all sounds familiar.

    Before his retirement, former Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai woke up one morning and decided to do what the DSS has done now. Buratai announced to a bemused populace that he had uncovered plots to overthrow Buhari’s government through a coup de tat.

    He sternly warned persons involved in the putsch scheme to desist from the act because democracy has come to stay. Buratai was torn to shreds by the media, writers and columnists who accused him of plotting to overthrow the government but was only testing the waters. In the current era, we can interpret the DSS alarm of interim government in two ways which correlate with the principle of reverse psychology.

    We must, as a mark of responsibility, establish a parallel between Buratai’s reverse psychology tactics and the current DSS mind games or we infer that the DSS has unfortunately assumed the role of political characters in the hands of the ruling APC. They do this by flying a kite to have reasons to arrest persons spuriously deemed to be plotting to install an interim government. In that case, the opposition presidential candidates are their targets. It can never be far from these two scenarios.

    Obviously, the DSS is populated by distinguished people of pristine professionalism and equitable disposition. However, the state security apparatus must realize that times have changed and Nigerians are informed enough to identify subtle acts of dubiety from afar. Interim government can only be installed in any country by two sets of people – either the commander in chief, in our case, the president or military/security personnel.

    The last time Nigeria experienced an interim government, it was willfully installed by the then maximum ruler, Ibrahim Babangida. An elder statesman of blessed memory, Earnest Shonekan benefited from that political contraption. However, it did not take long before the power-hungry, desperate despot Sani Abacha sacked Shonekan in a palace coup. It is therefore, improbable that an ordinary citizen will be planning to install an interim government.

    Or is the DSS alerting Nigerians that Mr President is planning to install an interim government to protect what remains of the image of Nigeria in international politics following Bola Tinubu’s disreputable victory in the last presidential elections? The preceding analogy interfaces with a recent rumour reported in the media that Buhari confided in some people about his unwillingness to hand over power to Bola Tinubu. Although the presidency has issued a statement denouncing the rumour, Nigerians are more sensible than that.

    Some people will argue that the DSS is currently enmeshed in a double standard regarding its duties as a security outfit. Before and after the recently concluded general elections, certain persons made statements capable of throwing Nigeria into turmoil. MC Oluomo, the crude, enfant terrible of Lagos thuggery, threatened a whole ethnic group and went on to make good his threat.

    The police, in a show of gross infamy, called the threat a joke. Afterwards, some Nigerians were maimed in Lagos, and their businesses burnt to ashes. While it lasted, the DSS lulled into inexplicable inertia even as the international community condemned Oluomo’s genocidal utterances.

    Bayo Onanuga, an otherwise renowned journalist and proponent of the rule of law, turned sixty degrees and embraced the things he fought against in the past. Mr Onanuga threatened the Igbo people in Lagos, making inflammatory statements that could compromise state security, leading to the loss of lives. On that occasion, the DSS relapsed into monumental hypnosis and looked away.

    There must be something opaque about state security to laymen like us. In the same vein, the foul-mouthed, garrulous FFK, although with four children that share Igbo heritage, spewed hate and incendiary comments against the Igbo capable of provoking violence and loss of lives across the country. Yet the DSS in apparent dissociation with equitable judgment, looked away, nosing for inconsequential psychological abstractions to feather their cap as a security service sector.

    Nigeria is presently hovering on the proverbial precipice even though it appears that all is well. It is obvious that the ruling APC is leaving nothing to chance to plunge the country into chaos, exploding all barriers of state unity and oneness. The information minister Mr. Lie Mohammed, a man famed for his ability to defend the absence of water in an ocean, is currently in the US trying to convince the world to accept the last electoral charade as a democracy.

    He has, while reincarnating treachery, accused Peter Obi and Datti Ahmed, both presidential and vice-presidential candidates of the Labour Party of treason. However, he failed woefully to explain the treasonable contents and how these two gentlemen are culpable. It is either because Mr Lie Mohammed does not understand the meaning of treason or he was in a hurry to redeem a globally acclaimed flawed electoral process that has exposed Nigeria to ridicule across the world. Security agencies in Nigeria should live up to their responsibilities and not become pawns on the chessboard of desperate politicians.

    History never forgets. The DSS, Military, Police and other affiliate security apparatuses should be professional and act in the interest of all Nigerians. The APC slide to an Orwellian, atavistic dominion of Nigerians using every underhand, conniving means will only provoke retaliatory vengeance the geography of victims, no one can decipher.

     

    Promise Adiele PhD
    Mountain Top University
    Promee01@yahoo.com
    Twitter: @Drpee4

  • Interim govt planners, DSS and Nigeria at the precipice – By Godwin Etakibuebu

    Interim govt planners, DSS and Nigeria at the precipice – By Godwin Etakibuebu

    I have been saying it, in all my media platforms, for a long time now, and this could not have be less than 6 months, at least, that any call for interim government, under whatever guise, is seditious and treasonable. It is a crime that carries the maximum penalty, in the land – so says the law of our land. And this shall remain my stand until otherwise dictated by our laws.

    The first call for Interim Government under this Fourth Republic came from a very senior Statesman, a legal Icon and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Pa Afe Babalola. He made the call on April 18, 2022, at Ado Ekiti. He probable pulled from his legal opinion, in realisation of the fact that the current Nigerian 1999 Constitution [as amended] might not be an answer to our problems.

    Pa Afe Babalola, the founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, made it very clear why his call for Interim Government was inevitable, even as he developed his thought through the instrumentality of the Law, in concluding that such “government should be in office for six months to chart a new course for Nigeria” and stressing that, “the 2023 elections should be suspended until Nigeria has “a new-look peoples’ Constitution which should provide for part-time legislators and non-executive president’’.

    Afe Babalola said members of the interim government should be drawn from all living former presidents and vice-presidents, some selected ministers and governors and delegates of prominent professional associations. The professional associations could be the Nigeria Medical Association, Nigeria Bar Association, Nigeria Labour Congress, Nigeria Union of Journalists, Academic Staff Union of Universities and Civil Society Organisations. The elder statesman noted that such delegates should be elected on zero party basis.

    He said it was regrettable that the current 1999 Constitution, foisted on Nigerians by the military was no longer in tune with the realities of the day.

    Then came the second call for interim government, under this Fourth Republic. And this came from the Founder of House of God Church; Pastor Chris Okotie, on June 17, 2022, and he tagged his proposed Interim Government as the “Government of reconciliation and reconstruction”.

    He did not arrive at that thought without a cogent reason, in his own mind anyway. Whatever was the reason of justifying such thought in his mind, couldn’t be said to make the opinion right and desirable. But it was his right, either degradingly or otherwise. Let us look at the reason why the man of God; the first pastor in Nigerian history that hung Double Barrel Gun [12 bore short gun] on his back for self-protection, advanced the proposal.

    Chris stated that the government [his proposed Interim government] would eliminate the legislative arm of government in the tripartite concept of a presidential system of government and empower the various voluntary Organisations. The Clergyman explained that the professional associations would be enabled constitutionally, to acquire legislative powers as a replacement for the removal of the legislature from the country’s political system.

    “The presidential system has failed this country and we need to do something before the country goes extinct. We need to do away with the Legislature. It costs us billions to maintain that structure. There are 469 people in the lower and upper chambers representing the whole of Nigeria. Expunge the legislature from our constitution and empower the Unions like the NUT, ASUU, NMA others to participate in the legislative process”, Pastor Chris Okotie said.

    If there were to be nothing else, in Chris Okotie’s proposal, the mere fact that he proposed “eliminating the legislative arm of government in the tripartite concept of a presidential system of government” spoke in volumes that such thought is waxed with enough treasons in jeopardising democracy. 

    But a few days before the 2023 General Election, accusations from top leaders of the Ruling Political Party [APC], targeted against “Leadership, Power-that-be, Cabals in the Presidency and Cabals in the Villa, broke out voluminously. And the whole world heard it loud and clearly. Nigerians heard it very clearly – in midst of confusion and embarrassment though. 

    The first person to tell the story of an existence of a Cabal operating in the Aso Rock Villa, with intention of working towards enforcing an Interim Government, was the Executive Governor of Kaduna State – Malam Nasir El-Rufia. 

    He – El Rufai, made the allegation first before Ahmed Bola Tinubu; then the APC presidential flagbearer, in a shocking revelation, made in Abeokuta; Capital of Ogun State, alluded to the fact that Powers-that-be were trying to sabotage his presidential ambition by “gbe epo pamo” [hiding petroleum products], “won gbe owo pamo” [hiding money].

    Back to when Nasir El-Rufai made the allegations, the Presidency responded violently – countering the governor, asking him to name his “suspect in the Presidency” that he meant as the Cabal.

    Malam Nasir El-Rufai; a man well-known never being kind with those who dare his thoughts, replied Garba Shehu; Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari, by telling him that his allegation referred to a Cabal in the Aso Rock Villa and not to the Presidency. 

    The Kaduna State Governor took the analysis full length from the initial introduction point; so it looked, when he started. He narrated the details of the arrangement for Interim Government be proposed at the Villa, by revealing that there was a retired General of the Nigerian Army listed [as of the time he spoke and that was weeks before the general election] as Head of the Interim Government. 

    The question that everyone now asks is this: where was the Directorate of State Security [DSS] when all these discussions were holding? Was the DSS not supposed to have known about this notorious, subversive and treasonable felony, ab initio, before people like Malam El-Rufai stubble into it? Or, is the DSS coming to convince us – Nigerians, that they could not investigate then because the alleged planners of Interim Government, as it were then were members of the ruling class that employ them?

    Fellow Nigerians, let the truth be told, today’s DSS, like other segments of our endangered country, has been over-compromised, probably. If integrity is vanishing away from the Nigerian Judiciary – as current events are revealing, and same [integrity] has taken flight out the Independent National Electoral Commission [INEC], as attested to by all International Observers that oversaw the 2023 general elections, can the DSS remain the only holy Nigerian Institution that will be standing?

    It is therefore not the challenge of DSS, nor Malam Nasir El-Rufai – that has the details of the whole alleged wicked pending project; as he analysed it with perfect masterpiece, and not even that of President Muhammadu Buhari; who is the Commander-in-Chief of “all of them”. But it is a challenge and problem of a country that has been demonically over-compromised.

    Nevertheless, I am not losing hope as there is still a window of deliverance – the Almighty God remains, still, our deliverer!

     

    Godwin Etakibuebu; a veteran Journalist, wrote from Lagos.

    Contact:

    Website: www.godwintheguru.com

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    Twitter: @godwin_buebu

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    Phone: +234-906-887-0014 – short messages only. 

    You can also listen to this author [Godwin Etakibuebu] every Monday; 9:30 – 11am on Lagos Talk 91.3 FM live, in a weekly review of topical issues, presented by The News Guru [TNG].

  • Release Eze Igbo now – Igbo Youths tells DSS

    Release Eze Igbo now – Igbo Youths tells DSS

    Following Eze Fredrick Nwajagu, Eze Igbo’s arrest on Saturday by the operatives of the Department of State Services, (DSS) the Igbo youths known as the Coalition of South East Youth Leaders, (COSEYL) have demanded his immediate release.

    Recall that the DSS arrested Nwajagu for threatening in a viral video on Saturday to invite members of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, to help protect Ndigbo living in Lagos and their property against attacks by hoodlums.

    However,  (COSEYL) in a statement by its President General, Goodluck Ibem, said DSS and the Nigeria Police had left the real problem to chase shadows.

    Ibem wondered why the Police and DSS did not go after MC Oluomo, who intimidated Igbos during last Month’s gubernatorial and House of Assembly elections.

    He lamented that when alleged attacks were meted on the Igbos in Lagos during March 18 elections, DSS and Police lost their steam but suddenly got it back after Nwajagu’s comment.

    According to them, Nwajagu’s comment came due to the continued silence of security operatives despite the alleged attack on Igbos in Lagos.

    The group warned that security operatives should not maltreat Igbos in Lagos.

    “The same police and DSS that arrested Eze Fredrick Nwajagu and other innocent Igbos, what did they do when thugs were killing and attacking Igbos and their properties in Lagos during and after the general elections? The answer is nothing”, the statement reads in part.

    Eze Fredrick Nwajagu is the Eze Igbo in Ajao Estate in Lagos.

  • DSS set to transfer Lagos Eze Ndigbo to Abuja

    DSS set to transfer Lagos Eze Ndigbo to Abuja

    The Department of State Services, DSS, has said the embattled self-acclaimed Eze Igbo of Ajao Estate, Lagos State, Chief Fredrick Nwajagu, will be transferred to Abuja from the Lagos holding facility.

    A security source at the DSS Headquarters, Abuja, who craved anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, disclosed this.

    In an interview, the source said, “He is in our custody in Lagos. We expect him to be taken to Abuja. He may not be alone.

    “We have said before that there are people who are threatening the peace of the nation. The country will not allow anyone to plunge it into avoidable crisis.”

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports that Nwajagu was arrested during a raid by a joint team of policemen and operatives of the DSS on Saturday.

    A source within the Force, who preferred to be anonymous, said the Igbo leader had been arrested.

    “A team of police and DSS went to his palace but he had already fled. He was later traced to a hotel in Ejigbo where he was arrested,” the source said.

    Meanwhile, the state police spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the arrest, adding that the chief had been handed over to the DSS for further action over his inciting comments.

    He said, “Yes, he (Fredrick) has been arrested and is currently in the custody of the DSS. They are in charge of anything associated with terrorism.”

    In a now-viral video sighted by one of our correspondents, Nwajagu, speaking in a mixture of Igbo and English, had issued a threat to invite members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra to secure the property of Igbo people in the state.

    He said, “We must have our security so that they will stop attacking us at midnight, in the morning and the afternoon.

    “When they discover that we have our security, they will think twice before attacking us. I am not saying a single word to be hidden.”

    He also charged the public to make his claims go viral.

    “The detained chief would be made to face the music alone” –Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide

    Reacting, the leadership of the Lagos State chapter of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide said the comments made by Nwajagu did not represent the ideals of the Igbo people in Lagos.

    The President of the socio-cultural group, Chief Solomon Ogbonna-Aguene, said the detained chief would be made to face the music alone, adding that he spoke out of his interest.

    “He (Igbo leader) did not discuss his statement with any of us. The comments are his personal decisions and for his personal interests. Ohanaeze does not support such comment as its views.

    “There are some comments that should not be heard from us as a socio-cultural organisation. We are supposed to be apolitical.

    “We are not in support of what Chief Fredrick said. For him to mention that he is going to bring IPOB to Lagos is completely unnecessary. No Igbo person will support such arrangement. So, he is the one that will answer for himself. Let him go and face the music,” he said.

    Ogbonna-Aguene explained that Igbo people had not found things easy with IPOB even in the South-East, stating that it was unfair for Nwajagu to threaten to invite the group to Lagos.

    “Why then should he bring it up here in Lagos? If he wants to speak to IPOB, he should have met with them in his personal capacity, not as Eze Igbo. Who gave him the power to speak on Igbo interest,” Ogbonna-Aguene queried.

    When contacted, the Chairman, Supreme Council of Ndi-Eze, Lagos State, Mr Omega Lawrence, said Nwajagu was not an Eze in Lagos.

    “He is not a member of the Council of Eze. That is the truth. He is just our brother and his statements are unfortunate, but we cannot deny him. I condemn the statement in its entirety. We are not part of it,” Lawrence added.