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.
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 us,
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.”
we 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 us 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 us 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 selective, as some officers who committed
offences liable for outright dismissal were retired instead. Worse, some
were spared by Mr. Daura, our sources said.
They narrated how Mr. 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,” one source said.
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