…Awards N20 Million Compensation
The Director General, Department of State Services (DSS) Mr Oluwatosin Adeola Ajayi, has ordered the release of
an Abuja-based businesswoman, Mrs. Chineze Ozoadibe, who was wrongfully arrested on the suspicion of her alleged involvement in illegal bunkering. He awarded her N10 million as compensation.
Mr Ajayi had before this latest development demonstrated his administration’s commitment to human rights by authorizing the release of 12 detainees in the month of July, including a suspect who had been held since 2022.
One Abdulyakini Salisu, a quarry operator arrested on the Zuba-Kaduna expressway, was also released following a review of his case which revealed a mistaken identity. In addition to his freedom, Salisu was awarded N10 million as initial compensation and granted lifetime access to free medical care at the DSS medical facility.
The DSS under Ajayi has also intervened in the case of Mohammed Ciroma Jr., a 400-level Computer Science student at Modibbo Adama University, Yola. Following the review of his detention, the DG directed the Service to facilitate his reinstatement in school and awarded him a full scholarship funded by the DSS.
In May, the DSS paid N20 million to a Jos-based businessman who was mistakenly shot in 2016 by operatives pursuing a gunrunner with a similar name. That incident, according to sources, was one of several brought before a review committee established by Ajayi upon taking office in August 2024.
Under the latest development, the DSS boss also ordered that five other wrongfully arrested persons share N10 million as compensation.
A credible security source disclosed that the businesswoman was arrested in the course of busting an illegal oil bunkering syndicate.
“Some suspects, including the lady, were transferred to the DSS by a sister security agency. In the course of investigation, DSS officers discovered that the businesswoman’s arrest was coincidental. Convinced, the DG directed that she be released and duly compensated,” offered a credible security source.
“You’ll realize that the release of wrongfully arrested and detained persons, and the award of compensation to them, have become the new culture of the DSS since Mr. Ajayi took over as DG”, noted the security source.
“This is not an isolated case of setting free wrongfully detained persons. The DSS DG has done that several times. It’s only a few that made it to the media. Remember the Jos-based businessman who was mistakenly shot by the DSS in 2016.
“It took eight years and the arrival of Tosin Ajayi as the DSS boss for the Service to agree to pay the N10 million a Federal High Court awarded the victim as damages. Not only did the new DSS boss pay the N10 million, he doubled it to N20 million, and added free medicare for life for the victim,” recalled the source.
“As a thoroughbred professional, Mr. Ajayi has seen and experienced first-hand, that even the best security agencies sometimes make mistakes.
“That is why, on assuming office, he addressed his personnel to be very painstaking in their operations. He also admitted that, as humans, they are fallible. However, that when they make such mistakes, they should be man enough to admit it, the reason he is releasing wrongfully detained persons and awarding them compensation,” added the source.
“In the bid to cut down on these mistakes, the DG has directed the legal department to ensure that due process is painstakingly followed in all cases being handled by the Service. Now, the standard procedure is that all Investigation Officers conduct
proper investigations before carrying out any arrests,” he disclosed.
