Trouble as sack DSS personnel plan to drag service boss to court

Premium Times – There is disquiet in the department of State Security Service (SSS) following mass dismissal and retirement of personnel perceived to be partisan, corrupt or on collision course with the present leadership of the service.

DSS operatives

In a sweeping retrenchment Tuesday, the SSS sacked dozens of personnel including the former spokesperson of the service, Marilyn Ogar, and the former Chief Security Officers (CSOs) to President Muhammadu Buhari and former President Goodluck Jonathan, Abdulrahman Mani and Gordon Obua respectively.

Other prominent personnel affected by the mass lay-off are Liman Widi, Yomi Zamba, Little John Okojie, Ahmed Abdullahi, Ibrahim Katsina, Larry Obiagwu, Abdulganiyu Dauda, Dahiru Dodo, Suleiman Dabo, among others.

A notice for retirement issued to the affected staffers with a title: “Retirement From Service”, read, “Following the on-going re-organisation in the Service, be informed that that your services are no longer required in the Department of State Security Service (DSS). You are therefore, retired from Service under Section 8 Rule 020806(II) of the Public Service Rules, 2006 wef 31st August, 2015″.

The notice, obtained by PREMIUM TIMES, continued: “In view of the foregoing, you are hereby directed to immediately render all Government property under your care, including Service Warrant Card, to your immediate Sectional Head/Director and obtain necessary clearance.”

While expressing the DG’s best wishes to the affected officers, the notification said “You are also to liaise with the Directorate of Administration, Personnel Department and Pension Department to conclude the necessary formalities for disengagement and payments of benefits.”

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that Mr. Obua is one of the staff challenging his dismissal by the service.

Speaking through his lawyer, Andrew Itsekiri, Mr. Obua 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 who spoke with our reporter 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”.

One affected officer who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES on the condition of anonymity said he was neither queried nor invited for questioning before his compulsory retirement.

“I have five years to retire. But suddenly I was sent on compulsory retirement without ever being queried or investigated for any wrongdoing,” he said.

Another officer who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES also faulted the service’s decision to sack him without violating either the service code or being invited for questioning over any wrong-doing.

The officer, who also preferred anonymity, argued that there was ulterior motive behind the mass retirement as it was targeted at “some specific staff”.

He accused the new Director General, Lawal Daura, of being on a “revenge mission”, saying Mr. Daura was targeting personnel he bore malice against before his (Daura’s) recall from retirement. “We will challenge this injustice in court,” he vowed.

Security sources said the mass retirement and dismissal were also discriminatory as some officers who committed offices liable for outright dismissal were retired instead.

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that one of the affected officers went on Absence Without Leave (AWOL) for weeks with a service pistol, which he did not sign for, but was sent on retirement instead of outright dismissal.

“The offense is liable for dismissal. But because of favouritism, he was retired with full benefits, while others who did not commit any clear offence were dismissed from service. This is sheer injustice,” said the officer.

PREMIUM TIMES could not reach Mr. Daura for comment as he did not respond to calls to his mobile phone number.

Trouble as sack DSS personnel plan to drag service boss to court

Alleged Partisanship: DSS fires Marilyn Ogar

By Ehi Ekhator, Naija Center News

A former spokesperson for the Department of State Security, Marilyn Ogar have been forcefully sent to compulsory retirement.

Marilyn Ogar, Spokesperson, DSS

Ogar has been under fire since President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office over the role she allegedly played during the last presidential election.

Marilyn was accused of partisanship, working for the former President, Goodluck Jonathan against the All Progressives Congress.

The former DSS deputy director who was demoted by the new leadership of the security department was said to have been perambulating the office with no proper assignment and was later transferred to Borno State without position.

According to reports, Marylyn was forced to retire effective from yesterday, seven years before she is due for her retirement.

 

 

The demoted spokesperson was retired from service after she was accused of bribery and professional misconduct.

She was accused of collecting several trucks of Dual Purpose Kerosene as bribe, playing partisan, among other breaches of service codes.

According to the information gathered, the new Director General of the service, Lawal Daura, set up a panel to investigate the weighty allegations which, she was found guilty of.

As a result of the findings, coupled with her role in the last election, the panel therefore recommended that she be compulsorily retired, alongside others who were also guilty for professional misconducts during Goodluck Jonathan administration.

 

 

 

Alleged Partisanship: DSS fires Marilyn Ogar

Detained cleric asks court to jail DSS DG

A human rights lawyer, Ahmed Adetola-Kazeem, said he has commenced contempt proceedings against the Director General of the Department of State Services, Lawal Daura, over the continued detention of an Islamic cleric, Abdul-Ganiy Ibrahim, in spite of a court order.

Acting Director General, Department of State Service, Mr. Lawal Musa Daura

The cleric, his then pregnant wife, Muinat, had, on July 5, 2014, been reportedly whisked away from their Ijoko, Ogun State home by unidentified gunmen, but they were later traced to the DSS station in Abeokuta, from where Muinat was released while Ibrahim continued to be detained.

Adetola-Kazeem had approached a Federal High Court in Abeokuta to challenge the arrest and continued detention of the cleric by the DSS without disclosing his alleged offence or charging him to court.

He had urged the court to declare that the continued detention of Ibrahim for over four months, outside the period covered by the detention warrant by the DSS, from July 7 to September 17, 2014, was an infringement of Ibrahim’s right to dignity of person, personal liberty and freedom of movement guaranteed by sections 34, 35 and 41 of the constitution.

In its ruling on June 18, 2015, the court, presided over by Justice F.O.G. Ogunbanjo, upheld the lawyer’s argument and declared that the continued detention of Ibrahim by the DSS without charging him or arraigning him before a court of competent jurisdiction was a violation of his fundamental human rights.

The judge also declared that the continued detention of the cleric by the DSS without informing him of the offence for which he was being held and without allowing him access to his lawyer, was a breach of Section 36 of the constitution.

Apart from ordering his immediate release, the judge held that Ibrahim was entitled to public apology from the DSS, in addition to compensation for damages in the sum of N1m.

“The 1st applicant is entitled to the grant of general damages in accordance with Section 36 (5) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999,(as amended) for the abuse of his fundamental rights by the respondents’ unlawful detention and this court accordingly awards the sum of N1m to be paid by the respondents to the 1st applicant.

“The court having found that the continued detention of the 1st applicant is unlawful, the 1st applicant is entitled to public apology from the appropriate authority or person by virtue of Section 35 (6) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999,(as amended). I therefore order the respondents to comply with Section 35 (6) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999,(as amended) and tender a public apology to the applicant,” the judge had held, in his ruling in suit numbered FHC/AB/CS/84/2014 filed by Adetola-Kazeem.

But the lawyer said all efforts to get the DSS and its DG, joined as the first and second respondents in the suit, to comply had been unproductive.

He added that his efforts to set eyes on Ibrahim had also not yielded any result, particularly expressing worry over the inability of DSS operatives to tell where exactly Ibrahim was being kept.

“None of them has given me any positive response. They are not even sure where he is. Those in Abeokuta said he is in Abuja; those in Abuja said he is in Lagos. Anytime you ask them, they would say give us his name and also send his picture, so that we can ascertain if he’s with us because there a lot of them there,” Adetola-Kazeem had lamented while speaking with our corresponding early July.

But he said that the court order had been served on the DSS authorities, accompanied with a letter June 25, 2015 addressed to the DG of DSS.

In the said letter, the lawyer urged the DSS to obey the order of the court so as to save the image of the organisation from being battered.

“Be it noted that your organisation participated in this case from start to finish. You were represented by Mrs. Aisha Gyang, all through the case up until the ruling on June 18, 2015,” the lawyer said in the letter.

However, speaking with our correspondent on Sunday, Adetola-Kazeem said he had now commenced contempt proceedings against the respondents for failing to obey the court order.

Detained cleric asks court to jail DSS DG

Senate summons DSS boss, Daura over interference in Rivers State tribunal

The Senate Committee on Ethics and Public Petitions on Wednesday, summoned the Director-General of the Directorate of the State Services, Lawal Daura, for interrogation over allegation of interference in the affairs of the Rivers State Election Petition Tribunal.

Acting Director General, Department of State Service, Mr. Lawal Musa Daura

Daura is expected to appear tomorrow, Thursday, before the committee which is currently conducting investigation into the petition against him by lawmakers from the State House of Assembly.

The 31-member state lawmakers had forwarded a petition to the upper chamber, which was referred to the committee by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki.

The petition alleged among others, that the DSS had arrested some officials of the Independent National Election Commission and members of the Election Petition Tribunal.

It further alleged that the DSS officials subjected the INEC staff members to serious intimidation, harassment and coercion to compromise the judicial independence of the tribunal and pervert the cause of justice.

Chairman of the committee, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, (PDP, Imo East) after listening to the submissions of the Rivers legislators on Wednesday, warned all parties involved in the matter against unnecessary delay.

He also stated that ‎the senate would want prompt response to invitations and questions raised during the investigation.

Anyanwu said the committee would pay serious attention to allegation of abuse of office implied in the petition against the DSS, even ‎as he asked the petitioners to provide specific details on the petition to assist the committee.

He said, “The issue of independence of the judiciary is a very serious pillar in the dispensation of justice. That is why the committee takes the allegation of intimidation of tribunal members ‎very seriously.

“If the judiciary is intimidated, then the independence is compromised. So we want all details about this allegation supplied to the committee without delay.”

The Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly‎, Ikuinyi-Owaji Ibani, who led other members of the House to the committee, to defend the petition, stated that INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Rivers state, Mrs. Gesila Khan and other Senior officials of the commission had equally been arrested and detained by the DSS in Abuja.

He said, “We make bold to say that they lack the power or the authority to invite ‎any judicial officer serving in the Rivers State Election Petition Tribunal for questioning concerning their handling of election petitions pending before them based on some purported petitions from interested parties.

“We commend the stance and efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari ‎to instill discipline, strengthen institutions of State and deepen democratic values where all Nigerians will have equal opportunities.

“We are all appalled by their present clandestine and surreptitious moves aimed at derailing an efficient, transparent and unbiased justice delivery system and thereby bringing the judiciary into disrepute, public ridicule and odium.

“In Barking on this condemnable mission, the DSS purports to be acting on some pre-arranged petitions from persons who are directly interested in the outcome of the various election petitions from Rivers State.”

Senate summons DSS boss, Daura over interference in Rivers State tribunal

Nothing"s wrong if SSS boss is our member - APC

The All Progressives Congress, APC, has insisted that the Director General of the State Security Services, SSS, Lawal Daura, is not a card-carrying member of the party, saying nothing short of producing Mr. Daura’s membership card or evidence of his membership registration could prove that he is indeed a member of the APC as alleged by the PDP.

Acting Director General, Department of State Service, Mr. Lawal Musa Daura

”While it amounts to rabble-rousing and crass politicking for the PDP to have wrongly accused Mr. Daura of being a member of the APC without a scintilla of credible evidence, the PDP has weakened its argument by using the pictures in which Mr. Daura appeared with the President and the fact that he served in an election committee as evidence of his membership of the APC,” the party said in a statement issued in Lagos on Friday by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed.

”Possession of an APC membership card by Mr. Daura or evidence of registration as a party member at his ward, local government or state will be the only conclusive evidence of his membership of the party,” it said. ”Until such an evidence is produced, we are sorry we have to tell the PDP to shut up!”

Mr. Daura, who was appointed SSS boss early July, served on the security committee of the APC presidential campaign.

The PDP accuses him of serving the interest of APC at the SSS.

But the APC said the PDP is jittery because it is keenly aware of the kind of impunity perpetrated under the federal government it sired from 1999

to 2015.

The party also drew comparisons with similar roles played in the past for PDP by government officials.

”PDP has forgotten the saying that he who must come to equity must

come with clean hands. When Mr. Mike Okiro chaired the security committee of the PDP campaign in 2011, did that prevent him from being appointed the Chair of the Police Service Commission, which is responsible for issues concerning the welfare, promotion and discipline of all police personnel, in 2013?

”When the Director-General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mr. Mike Omeri, was appointed into the Jonathan election committee in 2015, did he resign his appointment as head of the agency or did he automatically become a card-carrying member of the PDP?

”Did retired Col. Kayode Are not become the DG of the DSS despite being a close confidante of Gen. Obasanjo during his electioneering campaign to become President? Was this not under a PDP Federal Government?

”In any case, even in the world’s most advance democracy, United States, was a card-carrying Democrat, Mr. Leon Panetta, not named as head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) by President Barack Obama in 2009? Here in Nigeria, the APC-led FG has not even gone that far, and the PDP is blabbing.

”It is an irony that the APC-led Federal Government, which has continued to conduct the affairs of state with a strict adherence to the law, is the one being accused by the immoral, irresponsible and grossly hypocritical PDP. A party that should cover its face in shame for wasting all of 16 years in the life of our country, a party whose

members should show penance by hunkering down has continued to assault the sensibilities of a decent nation. What a shame,” APC said.

Nothing"s wrong if SSS boss is our member - APC

New DSS boss, Daura member of APC - PDP accuses

The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party on Wednesday alleged that the Director General of the Department of State Services, Mr. Lawal Daura, is a member of the governing party, the All Progressives Congress.

With this, the opposition party therefore said that there was no way Daura could preside over the nation’s security apparatus without being partial.

Acting Director General, Department of State Service, Mr. Lawal Musa Daura

Acting National Chairman of the party, Prince Uche Secondus, stated this at a press briefing in Abuja.

He spoke after the weekly meeting of the members of the National Working Committee of the party.

The briefing was witnessed by members of the NWC.

Secondus alleged that Daura was the chairman of the Intelligence Committee of the APC Presidential Campaign Council.

He said the party decided to address the press conference with the aim of bringing to the notice of Nigerians and the international community, happenings in the country.

Secondus said, “The NWC notes that this unfortunate development has been the case since the appointment of the new Director General of the DSS, Alhaji Lawal Daura, whom we learnt was a critical intelligence stakeholder of the APC as a card-carrying member of that party during the campaigns. This is ungodly and unacceptable. The President should review his appointment.

“We do hope that in his new job, the Director General of DSS is not mixing issues on the APC presidential candidate and the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, hence the need for Mr. President to rein him in, as the development is capable of eroding the cherished independence of the judiciary and the electoral commission, a sine qua non for a virile democracy, which guarantees our unity and stability as a nation.”

In his reaction, the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said his party sympathised with the PDP.

Mohammed told our correspondent that it was obvious that the PDP could no longer cope with the popularity of President Muhammadu Buhari, hence the desire of the opposition party to fabricate stories.

Besides, he wondered whether being a member of the Intelligence Committee of the APC Presidential Campaign was enough to disqualify Daura, if indeed he was a member.

He said, “We clearly understand the difficulty of the PDP and honestly sympathise with them. In less than two months, President Buhari’s administration is such a roaring success and the President’s popularity growing daily that the PDP has to fabricate stories aimed at discrediting the APC led government.

“Unfortunately, Nigerians are not falling for the gimmick. Nigerians are seeing concrete evidence of good governance, including but not limited to improved power supply, transparency in governance, readmission into the comity of civilised nations and new pride and confidence in being a Nigerian.

“If the PDP wants, they can hold 10 press conferences a day. As long as the President continues to justify the expectations of Nigerians their press conferences will only serve as entertainment to relieve boredom.”

New DSS boss, Daura member of APC - PDP accuses

Revenge: Marilyn Ogar Fate Unknown As She Hangs Around Office

Many who attacked the All Progressives Congress during the last election are in for a big ride and the Department of State Service (DSS) is not exempted.

Marilyn Ogar, Spokesperson, DSS

The government had commenced reshuffling through the new acting DSS director-general Lawal Musa Daura.

According to TheCable report, Marilyn Ogar, the Service deputy director has been transfered to Maiduguri, Borno State but the posting has now been put on hold following the insinuations that it was “punitive”.

Ogar as a spokesperson defended the activities of the agency against different attacks from Nigerians and different bodies.

The spokesperson, according to the report may be paying for all her pronouncements, for example, the face-off with the Bring Back Our Girls movement and the DSS raids on the Lagos office of the All Progressives congress (APC) last year.

Since she lost her promotion, and was called back from Borno State, information gathered revealed that she is just hanging around in Abuja waiting for her next assignment.

Daura who was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari after the resignation of Ita Ekpenyong who was accused of compromised under President Jonathan administration is said to be inefficient, according to a DSS source.

45 new state directors who were promoted under Jonathan have been reversed including the fresh graduates.

Daura was said to have ordered the sack of the fresh graduates who were recently employed after eight-month training.

The new acting director-general was mandated to probe his predecessor including Ekpenyong but it seems the the discovery is disappointing.

An official from the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation has been asked to do the job.

It was gathered that the official from Katsina state is expected to be appointed as the new director of Finance, taking over from an operative from Plateau state who was said to have been appointed recently.

Daura move to probe Ekpenyong over some allegations levied against him has hit rock since it is discovered to be fabricated because some of the allegations that have been penciled down for probe are very difficult to prove.

During investigation, it was established that the raid on APC office in Lagos were actually based on a tip-off by an APC member contrary to the APC leadership cry that Presidency (Jonathan)  was responsible.

The source said ““Daura’s mandate is to probe Ekpenyong, but it is not looking bright because some of the allegations being examined are difficult to prove. It has now been established that the raids on APC office in Lagos were based on a tip-off by an APC member. This has complicated matters,” .

It could be recall that the DSS raided the office in Lagos on the believe that voters biometric cards were being produced illegally there, which generated outrage from APC leaderships and supporters even though no one was charged to court.

It has been gathered, as reported by TheCable that some of the agency top operatives are now beginning to doubt the capability of the new acting DG to pilot the agency.

According to one of the operative, “Daura was informed about the attack in Kano way before it happened. He refused to release money or approve the operations until bombs went off in three states. “His records show that he was at the very bottom of his class, and during his service years, his file was filled with a lot of queries that should ordinarily disqualify him from the job. There are a lot of competent northern officers who can lead the DSS. Daura is not one of them.” The reorganisation exercise is expected to continue as new governments usually fill strategic positions at the agency with loyalists.

Revenge: Marilyn Ogar Fate Unknown As She Hangs Around Office