Two months after compensating a Jos-based businessman with N20 million for being mistakenly shot during a 2016 operation, the Director General of the Department of State Services, DSS, Mr. Tosin Ajayi, has again demonstrated his commitment to human rights.
On Saturday, the DG ordered the release of a suspect who had been in the custody of the secret police since 2022, bringing to 12 the number of suspects released this month.
After approving the release of Abdulyakini Salisu, the Service tendered an apology to him. The DG directed the Service to pay him N10 million as “initial compensation” and further support. The security sources hinted, was an indication that Salisu may get more.
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.
Salisu, like a former detainee released by the DG, is to enjoy free medical services at the DSS hospital for as long as he wishes, the DG directed.
The sources disclosed that Salisu is the third celebrated case of several suspects set free by the secret police since Ajayi assumed office.
Sources said 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 released suspects face disciplinary action.
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Early 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 the Ilesa-East Local Government Area of the state, around 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 a Federal High Court in 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 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 Service 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,’ offered a top DSS officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
“The DG gave a clear directive that he wouldn’t mind the source of any information bordering on the plight of persons who were 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,” said the source,” adding, “given the DG’s disposition to upholding justice, I know the man will likely get more.”
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 charge that, under his administration, no citizen is 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,” declared the source.
Crediblenewsng.com
