The Department of State Services is currently undergoing a turbulent moment following the recent retrenchment of some top officials of the agency.   

The DSS days ago had forced some officials to go on "compulsory retirement". The service's ex spokesperson Marilyn Ogar, Goodluck Jonathan's ex CSO, Gordon Obua, President Muhammadu Buhari's former CSO, Abdulrahman Mani along with a number of others were sacked.

Mr. Obua however has said he would challenge the decision of the SSS in court, as the service failed to establish anything incriminating against him when he was detained and quizzed over alleged corruption.

Other affected officers also cried foul over the service’s decision, saying their retirement or dismissal were borne out of malice than “on-going re-organisation in the Service”.

They narrated how the DG of the agency, Lawal Daura recalled an officer, named Ibrahim Audu, who had earlier been sacked for failing to return a service pistol he absconded with illegally.

According to the officers, Mr. Audu went on Absence Without Leave (AWOL) with the pistol, which he did not sign for.

When he finally showed up weeks later, he claimed the weapon had been snatched from him, and was missing.

The man was dismissed from service.

But when Mr. Daura returned as DG, having been appointed from retirement, he promptly reinstated the man, our sources said.

“The offence is liable for dismissal. But because of favouritism, he was recalled, while others who did not commit any clear offence were dismissed from service. This is sheer injustice,”


Premium Times