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Tag: dss

  • Sowore meets bail condition, to be released from DSS custody

    Sowore meets bail condition, to be released from DSS custody

    Information reaching TNG has it that the convener of #RevolutionNow protest Omoyele Sowore may be released from the custody of the Department of State Service (DSS) any moment from now.

    His lawyer, Femi Falana, has been spotted at the headquarters of the DSS in Abuja to effect the release.

    A Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday ordered his release, directing the publisher of Sahara Reporters to deposit his passport at the court’s registry.

    “I am currently at their headquarters. Having complied with the condition given by the court, I am here for Sowore’s release,” Falana told Punch correspondent on the telephone at about 4pm on Wednesday.

    An “affidavit of compliance with court order” deposed to by a lawyer in Falana’s law firm, Mr. Marshal Abubakar has been filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja as confirmation of the submission of Sowore’s to the Deputy Chief Registrar of the court.

    Details shortly…

  • How I was maltreated in DSS detention —Sowore

    How I was maltreated in DSS detention —Sowore

    The co-convener of #RevolutionNow protest, Omoyele Sowore, who has been in the detention of the Department of State Services since August 3, 2019, has accused the DSS of maltreating him.

    “I was abducted in the middle of the night. I was taken to one of your facilities in Lagos. I was beaten up, rough-handled on my way to the facility in the car. And my cousin, who was in the room with me, was also beaten and handcuffed, and my properties were forcefully seized. And when I got there, of course, the maltreatment continued, they threw me on a cold floor and locked the door.

    “I had no contact with even the guards for two nights; I was in that facility before I was flown here by your agents. So, I was seriously maltreated,” Sowore reportedly said during an interrogation session by DSS operatives.

    The National Legal Adviser of African Action Congress, the political party on whose platform Sowore contested the presidential race in this year’s general elections, Inibehe Effiong shared the “Transcript from DSS Interrogation of Sowore Upon Abduction – Excerpt 1,” on his Facebook page on Monday.

    According to the transcript, Sowore was interrogated by five DSS operatives in the presence of his lawyer, one “Barrister Sam.”

    One Usman Usman, a DSS operative, who led the interrogation, was said to have told Sowore that, “We’ll be asking you questions and our advice is for you to be truthful to the best of your knowledge. We’ll not force you to say anything. Whatever question we ask and you have a problem with or you don’t have an answer to or you don’t want to answer, there is no compulsion, you simply tell us you’re not going to answer these questions.”

    When asked by Usman to say “If in the course of your being here anybody has molested you in any way or maltreated you?” Sowore said, “Yes,” and went on to give the response above.

    On whether he was denied food, the detainee said, “While in your facility in Lagos, yes, but I decided that because of their hostility I won’t take any food until I am allowed to talk to a lawyer. I continued to refuse food; until I was allowed to speak with a lawyer, and I have seen my lawyer, but I am still being denied access to my immediate family.”

    Asked if he had made calls to his family members, Sowore replied his interrogator, “I’ve not made any calls to them. My brother is outside; he wasn’t allowed to see me as we speak.

    “No, I’ve not made any call to my family members, I only made calls to people I remember their numbers to bring me food and asked them to call my brother. My brother came in today. But he was denied access to me, so I haven’t been able to see him and as a result, speak with my mum, wife and kids.”(sic)

  • #RevolutionNow: Sowore’s wife accuses DSS of cutting off phone contact husband

    #RevolutionNow: Sowore’s wife accuses DSS of cutting off phone contact husband

    Opeyemi Sowore, wife of detained activist and Publisher of Saharareporters, Omoyele Sowore, said she and her two children have only been able to speak with him twice, by phone, since his arrest on 2 August in Lagos.

    “The calls were heavily monitored,” Opeyemi Sowore told NorthJersey Record.

    After she gave an interview to U.S.- based nonprofit broadcast outlet Democracy Now! a few weeks ago, the Nigerian government cut off all communication, she added.

    Sowore has used the word “revolution” to promote democratic governance, including in the protest he was organizing in August, which called for education, security, infrastructure and fair wages, Opeyemi Sowore said, but the Nigerian government, she said, sees the term as negative.

    Opeyemi Sowore called the charges against her husband “frivolous” and said they also stemmed from his criticism of the Nigerian president during a TV interview and movement of between $15,000 and $16,000 to a Nigerian bank to pay salaries of Sahara Reporters journalists working in Nigeria, she said.

    “This is basically a violation of his human rights,” Opeyemi Sowore said.

    Sowore and his wife in normal times live in Haworth, in Bergen county in New Jersey. She said Sowore was in Nigeria on a business trip when he was arrested.

    She said on the day he was arrested on 2 August, she got a text message from him saying ‘I love you’.

    “It came out of nowhere,” Opeyemi Sowore said. Within an hour, she started getting repeated calls from his cousin. Her husband had been detained, she found out, because he was helping organize what she called a peaceful protest for Aug. 5″.

    He was held for four or five days without officially being charged, and no warrant was issued for his arrest, his wife said. Sowore is among at least five other journalists and activists behind bars in Nigeria.

  • Military, DSS arrest 14 suspected killers of Ex-CDS, Alex Badeh

    Detectives from the Defence Headquarters, (DHQ ) Abuja, and the Department of State Services (DSS) have arrested 14 suspects in connection with the murder of the former Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh.

    Findings showed that the suspects were arrested by a Joint Investigative Panel which was inaugurated by the Chief of the Defence Staff, Gen Abayomi Olonisakin following the incident on December 18 last year.

    The suspects were scheduled to be paraded before newsmen at the DHQ Garrison in Mogadishu Cantonment, Abuja on Tuesday. The parade was later postponed due to what officials of the DHQ described as “ some unforeseen hitches.”

    Before the postponement, five of the suspects were brought to the venue of the briefings at about 1.42pm and were later ushered into a separate room as military officers made frantic efforts with others for the remaining suspects.

    It would be recalled that the Nigerian Police Force had in December 2018 paraded five suspects linked to the murder. One of them was a 25-year-old Shuaibu Rabo, who said the former CDS was killed while they were trying to rob him of money meant for the purchase of a new farmland.

    A member of the ex-CDS family, however, debunked the claim saying there was no money with Badeh at the time he killed by the gunmen.

    The initial parade of the five suspects did not, however, stop military and DSS to follow up the matter as the CDS Gen. Olonisakin order an investigative panel to dig deep into the murder.

    Badeh was the Chief of the Defence Staff between January 2014 and July 2015, after he earlier served as the Chief of the Air Staff between October 2012 and January 2014.

    The Nigerian Air Force Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, who first broke the news on Twitter, said Badeh died from “gunshot wounds sustained when his vehicle was attacked.”

    The invitation on the parade of the suspects, signed by Lieutenant I.O Audu, partly reads, “I am directed to cordially invite you to cover the presentation of findings and parading of some arrested suspects by the Joint Investigative Panel set up by the DHQ on Tuesday. Members of the press are requested to be seated promptly as nobody will be allowed to enter the venue as soon as the event commences.”

    The parade has, however, been postponed as the Acting Director of Defence Information Col. Onyema Nwachukwu pleaded with newsmen that a new date would be communicated as soon as possible.

  • DSS parades ‘fake doctor’ for killing 15 patients

    The Department of State Services (DSS) has paraded a man described as a fake doctor, Ibrahim Mustapha, having operated illegally under the Adamawa State government since 2015.

    DSS State Director of Security, Bola Olori, paraded the suspect yesterday in Yola, the state capital.

    He said Mustapha, who allegedly started his alleged fake practice as a ward attendant in Gombe State, was employed in Adamawa as a doctor with alleged forged medical certificates.

    Olori said: “Preliminary investigations revealed that Mustapha holds an NBTE certificate. He perfected the act in Gombe State, where he worked as a ward attendant in several clinics.

    “He was aided by a practising doctor who gave him sample copies of his NECO result, MBBS of Bayero University, Kano (BUK), the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate and that of Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) annual registration licence, all of which he forged.

    “The suspect subsequently gained employment into the Adamawa State Health Management Board in October 2015 as a doctor and rose to the post of Principal Medical Officer, serving at the cottage hospitals in Mayo Belwa and Fufore.

    “Prior to his arrest, the suspect, in the past five years, performed hundreds of surgical operations in several hospitals in the state.

    The suspect and his accomplice have been taken into custody. They will be prosecuted after investigations.”

    The DSS director did not mention the number of casualties the suspect caused, but Governor Ahmadu Fintiri was quoted on Wednesday to have accused the suspect of causing the death of 15 people.

    The governor spoke during a ministerial briefing in Yola, saying a fake doctor who was employed in 2015 by the State Health Services Management Board was discovered to have attended a secondary school and only possessed a National Board for Technical Education (NABTEB) certificate.

    The governor said his administration will set up a committee to fish out quack doctors in the state and bring them to justice.

  • DSS parades quack doctor who allegedly killed 15 patients

    The Department of State Services (DSS) has paraded one Ibrahim Mustapha who has operated illegally as a medical doctor working for Adamawa State Government since 2015.

    The State Director of Security of the DSS, Bola Olori, who presented the suspect to newsmen on Thursday evening in Yola, said Mustapha who started out as a ward attendant in Gombe State got employed in Adamawa as a medical doctor with forged medical certificates.

    The DSS boss said: “Preliminary investigations revealed that Mustapha holds an NBTE certificate.

    “He perfected the act in Gombe where he worked as a ward attendant in several clinics.

    “He was aided by a practising doctor who gave him sample copies of his NECO result, MBBS of Bayero University Kano, NYSC discharge certificate and that of medical and Dental Council of Nigeria annual registration license, all of which he forged.

    “The suspect subsequently gained employment into the Adamawa State Health Management Board in October 2015 as a doctor and rose to the post of Principal Medical Officer, serving at both the cottage hospitals in Mayo Belwa and Fufore.

    “Prior to his arrest, the suspect had in the past five years performed hundreds of surgical operations in several hospitals in the state.

    “The suspect and his accomplice have been taken into custody. They will be prosecuted after investigations.”

    The DSS chief did not mention the rate of casualty in the hands of the suspect but Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, on Wednesday accused the suspect of being responsible for the death of 15 people.

    Fintiri spoke during a ministerial briefing in Yola, explaining that a fake doctor, who was employed in 2015 by the State Health Services Management Board was discovered to have gone only to secondary school and only possessed a National Board for Technical Education (NABTEB) certificate.

    The governor said his administration would soon set up a committee to fish out quack medical doctors in the state and bring them.

  • DSS denies recruiting, warns job scammers

    Department of State Services (DSS) has debunked an advertisement being circulated on social media platforms that it is recruiting.

    It was the second denial in 48 hours by a government department. On Thursday, the State House Clinic, Abuja also debunked social media rumour that it was recruiting staff.

    The DSS said the job advertisement, published in its name, was false and should be treated as a scam by fraudsters to swindle unsuspecting members of the public, particularly job applicants, Spokesman Peter Afunanya said on Saturday night.

    “This statement, therefore, serves as an advice to potential victims to be wary of the misleading advertorial so as not to fall into the hands of unscrupulous persons that may defraud them. Those seeking information on recruitment into the Service are advised to verify such from its State commands and other formations.

    “Similarly, scammers are warned to desist from this inglorious act as the Service will not hesitate to bring the full weight of the law to bear on perpetrators”.

  • Police, DSS continue siege on AIT, Raypower stations few hours after resuming operations

    Police, DSS continue siege on AIT, Raypower stations few hours after resuming operations

    Reports reaching TNG has it that operatives of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and Department of State Security Services (DSS) on Saturday are still surrounding the premises of the broadcast station hours after it resumed operations. They were still there at mid day but were generally not stopping or harassing anyone.

    Recall that the private broadcast station returned on air late Friday after enduring over 24 hours of shutdown by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).

    The Federal High Court in Abuja voided the government’s suspension of the station’s broadcast licence and asked it to return on air immediately.

    However, few hours after resuming operations, Group Managing Director of the station, Tony Akiotu raised the alarm that security forces had gathered outside the station’s premises.

    As of 12.30 a.m. this morning, the premises of DAAR Communications Plc was surrounded by security operatives of the Nigeria Police Force and the State Security Service, Mr Akiotu said in a message to on Saturday.

    They came “heavily fortified and carrying out surveillance on the premises,” he added.

    Akiotu described the surveillance as “unusual” and its motive “unclear” but said the station will not be deterred by outside forces.

    “The station is still transmitting signals on its national and global beam,” Akiotu said, adding that the police and DSS’ action was an “unwarranted threat” to the station.

    However, effort to reach spokespersons of the security agencies was unsuccessful as at the time of filing this report.

  • DSS speaks on arresting INEC officials over Atiku ‘server results’

    The Department of State Services (DSS) has debunked reports that it has arrested and detained seven staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    It was gathered that understands that there was a report on social media that the DSS had arrested some ICT staff of INEC for disclosing the commission’s server Identity number to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its Presidential candidate in the just concluded elections, Atiku Abubakar.

    However, a statement by the DSS in Abuja over the weekend described the reports as false.

    “The service wishes to state that the information in its entirety is false and should be seen as a calculated effort to smear its image,” the statement noted.

    ”It states categorically that none of such things happened as it never invited or arrested any INEC staff.

    “There is no iota of truth in these allegations and the public is, therefore, enjoined to disregard them.

    “They are simply manipulative, misleading, inciting and can only be considered as mischievous and unpatriotic.”

  • 2019 presidential poll: DSS opens up on alleged arrest of INEC staff

    The Department of State Services (DSS) has denied that it had arrested and detained seven members of staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC).

    A social media report had alleged that the DSS arrested some ICT staff of INEC for disclosing the commission’s server Identity number to the PDP and its Presidential candidate in the just concluded elections, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

    Mr Peter Afunanya, Public Relations Officer of the service, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja.

    He said that the report went further to state that the staff were detained and tortured for three days by the service to find out who among them gave out the information.

    Afunanya said that the report also said that they were hurriedly released by the service when their wives threatened to jointly go on public protest.

    “The service wishes to state that the information in its entirety is false and should be seen as a calculated effort to smear its image.

    ” It states categorically that none of such things happened as it never invited or arrested any INEC staff.

    “There is no iota of truth in these allegations and the public is, therefore, enjoined to disregard them. They are simply manipulative, misleading, inciting and can only be considered as mischievous and unpatriotic,”he said.

    He recalled that the DSS was recently honoured by an International Election observer group for its neutrality and professionalism during the general elections.

    He assured the public that the service would continue to conduct itself in the manner that had earned it honour.

    Afunanya warned mischief makers who were desirous of using fake news to cause break down of law and order to desist from such.

    “The service will not condone deliberate acts of subversion and sabotage aimed at harming the peace of the nation,”he said.

    The spokesman warned that those bent on causing disaffection would be brought to justice.