The Department of State Services has released four men detained since May 2022 over alleged membership of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.
Security sources say DSS Director-General Oluwatosin Adeola Ajayi ordered their release after an investigation cleared them of the allegation.
The sources say he also approved an initial twenty million naira in compensation, with each man to receive five million naira.
Security sources told AITNEWS that the four men were arrested in May 2022 in Sampou and Akeddei, two communities in Kolokuma/Opokuma and Sagbama Local Government Areas of Bayelsa State.
They are Emele Uduma Ibe, Berefgagha Appah, Ondokeyilemi Aggry and Oyeinmokebebeton Aggry.
A security source added that investigators found that a group of IPOB members had lured the men with a promise of one hundred thousand naira each month, supposedly under the Federal Government’s Amnesty Programme.
The source says members of that group are now facing trial.
Their lawyers, Deji Adeyanju and Partners, received the four men after their release.
The firm commended the DSS for its work to safeguard national security and praised Ajayi’s efforts to uphold human rights.
Deji Adeyanju described the standards of hygiene and professionalism at the Service as the best he had seen in more than twenty years of dealing with DSS personnel.
He also reiterated his view that President Bola Tinubu made the right choice in appointing Ajayi.
Speaking on behalf of the four men, Emele Uduma Ibe thanked Ajayi and described the day of their release as the happiest of his life. He said the experience had taught him a lesson he would share with others. He also prayed for God’s continued blessings on Ajayi and the DSS management.
Security sources say Ajayi ordered a review of more than three hundred inherited terrorism cases when he took office in 2024. They say that following investigations by a DSS panel, the number of people held at the facility has fallen to about one hundred, and the Service has paid more than one billion naira in compensation.
According to the sources, the DSS awarded twenty million naira to a Jos-based businessman mistakenly shot by its personnel in Plateau State. The Service also covered his medical bills.
The sources say Chineze Ozoadibe received ten million naira after a wrongful arrest. Sunday Ifedi received the same amount after investigators cleared him of links to IPOB, while Kenneth Okechukwu Nwafor received five million naira after investigators cleared him of allegations involving the group.
The sources add that the Service has handled several other cases that were never made public.
One security source says the four men will receive psychological and medical support alongside the initial compensation, as others have in previous cases. The source also expressed confidence that the DSS would help them reintegrate into society.
In his first media interview, Ajayi acknowledged that DSS personnel can make mistakes and said the Service must provide a remedy when its actions cause harm. He explained that when the DSS acknowledges an error, it offers compensation and looks for ways to improve its operations in line with the rule of law.
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(Editor: Nkoli Omhoudu)
