- Re-states Commitment To Ensure National Security
By Celestine Okafor (Editor-in-Chief)
Alarmed by what it described as orchestrated plots to tarnish the reputation and character of it's Director General, Alhaji Yusuf Magaji Bichi, and equally smear and embarrass his family and some key officials of the state security, the Department of State Services (DSS) said it has uncovered such existing plans which have already been perfected.
The DSS also revealed that some desperate politicians and disgruntled elements within and outside the government were found to be sponsoring the alleged smear campaigns against the Director General of the State Security Service and his key officials.
A public alert statement released early Tuesday morning, January 10, 2023 by the reputation manager of the DSS, Dr Peter Afunnanya, stated that the botched smear attack on the leadership of the Service and the family of its Director General, Alhaji Yusuf Magaji Bichi, is spurred by the "uncompromising stance" of the DSS on some critical governance and policy issues.
According to Dr Afunnanya, those alleged to be behind the plot have engaged Civil Society and Non-Governmental Organisations to not only "sustain but stage further rallies, road-shows and press conferences and use the occasions to discredit Bichi".
Afunnanya further revealed that "sections of the media have been briefed to implement the strategy through sponsored articles, commentaries and features to malign the DG, his family and select officials of the Service".
The Service, he said, is "monitoring developments and will allow the plotters to either exhaust themselves or rescind their plan of action. Otherwise, no amount of intimidation, harassment and blackmail will deter it from discharging its duties".
The DSS however warned that it would not "idly watch a group of dissatisfied gang to undermine the Service and its highly dedicated Leadership and Management", stressing that the "DSS wishes to inform the public to be wary of these tendencies and ignore the antics of dark forces out to impugn the character of the DG".
Dr Afunnanya pointed out that the State Security Service re-states its "unalloyed support" to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, on his "resolve to continue to confront head-on, threats to national security as well as create the enabling environment necessary for the 2023 general elections to hold".
Meanwhile, media reports, on Monday, January 9, 2023, said there was alleged mild encounter between Hajia (Mrs) Aisha Magaji Bichi, wife of the Director-General of the DSS and one Engineer Abba Yusuf, said to be the Kano state governorship candidate of the Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso-led New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) in Kano.
According to one of the news reports by Daily Trust newspaper, the incident arose over the issue of aircraft boarding.
Unverified report by NIGERIAN NEWSLEADER Newspaper quoted Daily Trust as alleged that the DSS DG's wife, Aisha Bichi, reportedly prevented the politician, Abba Yusuf, from boarding a flight on the alleged grounds that the motorcade of Abba Yusuf allegedly delayed Mrs Aisha Bichi's convoy from gaining access into the VIP lounge of the airport.
Hajia (Mrs) Aisha Bichi (L) and Abba Yusuf of NNPP photocredit: newnigerian
Daily Trust reports that the said development prompted the security details of the DSS DG's wife to move quickly to clear the path for her madam, which in the process, "led to an altercation between the security details (of Mrs Bichi) and aides of the gubernatorial candidate".
The situation, according to a Daily Trust unamed source, "degenerated into a confrontation between Abba Yusuf and Mrs. Aisha Bichi when the former approached the latter over the incident.
“The situation escalated after she (Hajia Aisha Bichi) told Abba that they will not board the same flight as earlier scheduled, and she spotted one of his aides, Garba Kilo, filming,” the source said.
Daily Trust report claimed that Kilo was reportedly "beaten up" on the alleged orders of Mrs. Aisha Bichi, and was reportedly taken to the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital for medical treatment.
“They beat him (Kilo) up badly, and this is what probably made Abba insist that he will board the same flight with her as scheduled, which angered her (Mrs Bichi) more, and she ordered his arrest,” Daily Trust claimed that it's unnamed source narrated.
According to the newspaper in its report, "another reinforcement of the secret police restrained the gubernatorial candidate (Abba Yusuf) until the flight of Mrs. Aisha Bichi took off.
Daily Trust continued: "But a senior official of the DSS, who was present during the clash but asked not to be named, said the whole issue could have been avoided and that it was wrong to describe the wife of the DSS boss as the aggressor."
Daily Trust also said in the report that the newspaper could not reach Sanusi Bature, the spokesman of the Kano state NNPP governorship candidate for his official comments on the matter, but also said that of the DSS, Dr. Peter Afunanya, told the newspaper that the report of personnel of the service brutalising a citizen was unfounded, saying “nobody was brutalised by the Service; we enforce the law within the rules of engagement.”
The Daily Trust also quoted the DSS spokesman, Afunnanya, as saying that the said reports that the gubernatorial candidate was arrested “is a baseless gossip that does not require the attention of the Service, a professional newspaper or a journalist”. (Additional reports from Daily Trust). NNL.
