The mass dismissal and retirement of personnel
of the department of State Security Service (SSS),
perceived to be partisan, corrupt or on collision
course with the present leadership is causing
ripples in the service.
Some of those affected are vowing to drag the
security service to court.
The SSS had on Tuesday, September 1, sacked
dozens of personnel including the former
spokesperson of the service, Marilyn Ogar, the
former Chief Security Officers (CSOs) to former
President Goodluck Jonathan, Gordon Obua and
others.
According to Premium Times report, some of the
staff are crying foul over the decision of the service
to dismiss them, saying it was borne out of malice
than "on-going re-organisation in the Service".
Obua, one of those affected, is challenging his
dismissal by the service.
Speaking through his lawyer, Jonathan's CSO said,
the SSS failed to establish anything incriminating
against him when he was detained and quizzed over
alleged corruption, adding that he would challenge
his dismissal in court.
One of those affected who pleaded anonymity said:
" I have five years to retire. But suddenly I was sent
on compulsory retirement without ever being
queried or investigated for any wrongdoing ."
Also speaking, another officer claimed there were
ulterior motives behind the mass retirement as it
was targeted at "some specific staff".
He claimed the new Director General, Lawal Daura,
was on a "revenge mission", and was targeting those
he bore malice against before he (Daura's) was
recalled from retirement.
"We will challenge this injustice in court," he vowed.
According to security sources, the mass retirement
and dismissal were discriminatory as some were
more favoured than others.
A security source explained that one of the affected
officers was sent on retirement instead of outright
dismissal after he went on Absence Without Leave
(AWOL) for weeks with a service pistol, which he did
not sign for.
"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 ," the
source said.
In July, Daura had demoted Marilyn Ogar, the
agency's former spokesperson and Abdulrahman
Mani, the chief security officer to President Buhari,
who was replaced by Bashir Abubakar, an assistant
director in the Bayelsa state command of the DSS.
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