DSS: A Lawless Tyrant! -By Boluwatife Akintilewa Falaki

Are we gradually leaning towards the dictatorship era? Are high public office holders having itchy hands that they can’t but help to display the avalanche of power they wield? These are pertinent questions, which need vivid clarifications, however. I leave it to my esteemed readers to decide what answers befit such weighty questions.

The political stew of the nation seemed to have erupted violently as the Nigerian populace, media practitioners and all other crucial stakeholders were greeted to the intriguing event, which unfolded at the entrance of National Assembly on August 7^th, 2018. We witnessed as operatives of the Department of State Security Service lay siege to the entrance of the National Assembly, preventing senators of the PDP, their aides and employees of the National Assembly from gaining access to the main building. The senators of the Peoples Democratic Party expressed great displeasure as they allegedly saw their counterparts of the opposition party, All Progressive Congress, gain entry to the main building. But before we begin to dissect and analyse this political melodrama, we must be circumspect as to ask vital questions, which spawn analytical thought process as to why this event occurred. Tentatively speaking, the only reason why the operatives of the DSS were present at the entrance of the NASS was to presumably facilitate the removal of the senate leader, Bukola Saraki. There were outcries previous days ago that there were plans to impeach the leadership of the senate undemocratically; with the events of August 7^th, 2018, it seems the doomsday prophets hit the jackpot this time. But what baffles me is: why has the DSS taken it upon itself to interfere in the political affairs of the country, of which it has no business in? I think i have a palpable answer-It seems the erstwhile Director General of the DSS, Lawal Musa Daura, saw it unconventional that the DSS only carried out security objectives as delineated by the constitution, and he thought it will be astute and expedient if he expanded the limitations of their power. Moreover, if the APC lawmakers of the Senate were not pleased with their leader, they know the modalities they must follow, as prescribed by the constitution, to unseat their leader. Even if they were going to impeach Bukola Saraki as initially insinuated by public speculations, it is quite evident that they do not have two-thirds majority of the lawmakers in the parliament on their side. With the gale of defections that has engulfed our political landscape this past weeks, the oppressors and the oppressed are at daggers drawn and are not relenting anytime soon from entertaining us with their political shenanigans. The siege on the National Assembly is one of many events in which the DSS and other ancillary agencies have exceeded the limitations of their power to act as partisan political entities that relish to please their masters at any opportunity they get.

On the 24^th of July, 2018, it was reported that the police blocked the pathway to the homes of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, in the attempt to prevent them from attending plenary session that day. The Police Force had probably gotten a hold of the information that 14 APC Senators were going to defect to the PDP, and saw that the palpable way to halt this defection was to impede the senate leadership from going to the National Assembly. With his unrivalled political tact, however, Bukola Saraki decided to send an empty convoy home, the previous day, to serve as a decoy to the security personnel and arrived the following day at the National Assembly, according to news media, in a rickety tricycle. What a perfect illustration of a western action movie! Days after the blockade, the EFCC decided to invite the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, over a money laundering case. It is plausible for one to state that in the build-up to the 2019 general elections, there has been witch hunt allegations against those that are not loyalist to the present administration. These events are not just mere political coincidences, but well-orchestrated, and implemented political strategies used by the security forces to frustrate political office holders, who have failed to show their persistent loyalty.

The Security forces are gradually replacing the political thugs, which were once used to perpetuate political mayhem; they(security forces) are discontented with their primary duty- protecting lives and properties, gathering intelligence information- and have seemed to redefined their mandate to that of a prejudiced political institution that relish the political ambience rather than their security duties. Civil societies, Journalists, and other media stakeholders have berated the DSS, in past years, for disobeying court orders. It was reported that the DSS put two journalist under detention after a court order granted them bail. Also, the illegal detention of Sheik Ibraheem El-zakzaky, leader of Islamic Movement in Nigeria, and his wife is another potent case of the Federal government flagrantly defying the orders of the Federal High Court. On December 2^nd, 2016, “the Abuja division of the Federal High Court ordered the release of El-Zakzaky and his wife from detention. Additionally, the court ordered the repatriation of N50 million and directed the Federal Government to provide a temporary accommodation for the couple….’’ The SSS (State Security Service), with the auspices of the Federal Government, have continuously detained El-zakzaky and his wife against their will, with the justification that ‘’they are under protective custody.’’ It is very disheartening that ‘’in Buhari’s New Year message of January 1, 2017, he urged members of the Shiite community to embrace peace and obey the laws of the land. At the same time, he directed all enforcement agencies in the country to treat them humanely and according to the rule of law.’’ Does Mr President need us to remind that he is the one who has to adhere to the rule of law, and abide by the court orders, concerning El-Zakzaky? Or does Mr President need us to remind him that the bullets that were lodged in the body of El-Zakzaky’s wife are yet to be extracted? So i ask again, what is humane about the treatment offered to the El-Zakzakys’ in detention?

To make matters worse, “the Judicial Commission of Enquiry, which was setup by the Kaduna state government to investigate the remote and immediate causes of the violent attack unleashed on the Shiites, did not recommend the indefinite incarceration or prosecution of Sheik El-Zakzaky and his wife for any criminal offence whatsoever. Conversely, the judicial panel recommended the prosecution of the armed soldiers who massacred 347 Shiites and buried them secretly in an unmarked grave.’’ it is very hypocritical and unethical that an individual, who rode on the virtue of integrity, compliance, high handedness, discipline, and accountability, hardly stands by his own individual traits. According to the constitution, the Rule of Law is supreme, however. The president demeanour only portends what his administration’s mantra is- we are not under the rule of law. To highlight the extent of this despicable and bizarre act, a renowned lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, made a very profound statement about this case: “This is the first time since 1914 that a government, be it alien or indigenous, military or civilian, dictatorial or democratic, has detained a couple for almost years without trial.’’ This statement just exemplifies the enormity of unconstitutionalism that has become the trademark of this administration. In fact, a recently released report by the Auditor General signified that, 2016,’’ a year into Buhari’s reform programme, recorded the highest cases of dereliction in public institutions submitting their accounts for auditing in a decade…’’

That notwithstanding, we should not be too harsh to blame the appointees of the present administration, when they go out of bound. They are probably imitating the footsteps being laid down by their leader. What is very perplexing is that even when there is massive public critic of the way these security outfits seem to carry out their operations, the president seems to be aloof from what is happening in his own domain. He either denies any involvement or signals that the heads of these agencies disobeyed his direct orders. Perhaps, it is only in our nascent democracy that the Commander-in-Chief will issue out a directive, and his appointees will deem it fit, ‘’in their infinite wisdom’’, to do contrary to what was ordered. It is very mortifying that our president would acknowledge to the fact that the IG of Police, Ibrahim Idris, disobeyed his order, when he was asked to go to Benue State, after the wanton of killings that was carried out by suspected herdsmen militia. Those who construe that the President has been subjected under the whims of the ‘’cabal’’ are definitely not mistaken of their conjectural statements. With the kind of impunity that has been prevalent in this administration to the institutions and tenets of democracy, we are headed towards a society where everyone seems to operate according to his or her own ‘’law books’’, subverting constituted authorities in the process of carrying out their unconstitutional act.

Ironically, the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, denied any involvement or knowing of the siege that was carried out at the entrance of the NASS complex. He further disclosed to newsmen that the siege laid came as a surprise. Practically speaking, he is trying to convey the message, to unsuspecting Nigerians, that he was oblivious of the blockade that took hours. This a very contradictory statement from the pictures and videos that made rounds on social media platforms. From those pictures, it is clear that there were armed policemen at the entrance, who were definitely not DSS operatives. So, is he trying to tell us that the men who we saw in those pictures went on their volition to the ‘’failed DSS tea party’’? And even if they did, on whose orders were they following? Or were they not men from the Police Force headquarters? Or were they cloned policemen? Mr Ibrahim idris definitely has some nerve-racking questions to answer.

At this point, my readers would probably feel that my anger is directed towards Buhari’s lax attitude in handling his ‘’arbitrary dogs”. Nevertheless, this where the narrative becomes riveting that one begins to soak in a labyrinth of theories as to what prompted the fiasco at the entrance of the NASS. One would be probably be confounded as to the revelation of another perspective that seem to solve the mystic question everyone seems to surmise. But does this answer seem to answer our million dollar question?

I was privilege to read an astonishing article by Sahara Reporters titled,’ How Sacked DSS DG Plotted With Saraki To Embarrass The Buhari Presidency’. Immediately, I became apprehensive of how suddenly the hunted became the hunter, but I persuaded myself to read what the writer has in stock for me. The writer of this article gave a logical and sound exegesis of the likelihood of collusion between the erstwhile DSS DG, Lawal Daura, and the Senate President, Bukola Saraki. The writer’s first line of action was to make us, the readers, realize it was not a mere coincidence that the personal photographer of the senate president was among those filming at the point of the debacle. The writer prompted a thought process in the mind of the readers by asking, how could he (Tope Brown) have been there if his principal (Bukola Saraki) did not know about the event. I began to see the journey he/she was taken me on. The writer, according to her source, highlighted that the event we witnessed was “done to trump up sympathy for the Senate President following his defection from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and also rally public support for Saraki’s presidential ambition.” After giving us the tentative catalyst, he/she proceeded to feed us with an insider look of how the event unfolded. She began by saying that, before the masked operatives of the DSS lay siege to the entrance, Saraki’s loyalist had organised “for cameras, TV crews and some reporters to gather the National Assembly gates before the purported invasion so as to record the event.” So, the DSS officers were then called in to add their finishing touch to the “wonderful piece of art”. He/ She further asserts that, ‘’although it remains unclear whether the disgraced DSS boss was actually working for Saraki, investigations from our correspondents show that on several occasions, Buhari has decided to remove Daura over allegations of colluding with Saraki to undermine his government.’’ The eureka moment came when she casted my mind back to the unending saga between the presidency and the senate on Magu’s confirmation as the EFCC Chairman. I was enlightened of the fact that the presidency had affirmed to Magu’s candidature, and integrity record, however. He was opposed by the senate due to Paragraph 14 of the DSS letter on Magu, which stated: “In the light of the foregoing, Magu has failed the integrity test and will eventually constitute a liability to the anti-corruption stance of the current government.’’ In the opinion of this venerable writer, he/she is of the opinion that the presidency is clean of all accusatory charges levelled against it since it came out to berate the event as an “unlawful, condemnable, and completely unacceptable act, which was done without the knowledge of the presidency.’’ After reading this phenomenal article, I become more bewildered as to who to blame for the event that took place. The more i try to process this logical perspective, the more my questions indicts a whole lot of people into this political mess. The more I try to be objective, the more conspiracy theories I spawn in my neural pathways.

Apparently, I seem to be at an impasse as to who to blame for this riveting ‘’Nollywood drama’’. Giving this issue a thorough cerebration, one should not be too critical of the IG’s stance of complete ignorance. It could be that senior officials, under his authority, were the ones who authorised the dispatchment of armed policemen to the entrance of the NASS complex. I doubt the IG would savour to collude with the senate president to stage manage such an egregious act of this magnitude. Although I am not trying to hold brief for the IG, if we could remember, the IG and the senate have always had a frictional relationship, concerning the recalcitrant attitude of the IG to senate summons, bordering the wanton killings perpetuated in the country.

Nevertheless, President Muhammad has his own share of the problem. If Mr President had earlier served Lawal Daura the humble pie due to his nonchalant attitude and circumventing of executive orders, this whole bizarre saga could have been evaded. In fact, President Buhari’s demeanour signals to the ordinary man that he is complicit and culpable of the allegations levelled against his appointees. However, all seems not to be lost: The acting President’s swift and decisive action salvaged the image of the present administration. I personally commend his laudable courage in showing the erstwhile DG of DSS the way out. This timely action seems to have quashed the scepticisms and perspectives the populace were having of the incumbent government.

All in all, these are the kind of actions and many more we would love to witness in our political space. This laudable feat signals to those erring political office holders that impunity will no longer be tolerated, as it were before. Presently, a bit of sanity seems to have been restored to the DSS and all other security outfits. It will be shrewd for President Buhari to borrow some cue from the Vice- President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, on how to make decisive action in difficult times. Conspiracy theories asserted that if it was President Buhari that was in power, at that moment, he would not have summoned the courage to fire the erstwhile DG of DSS. This could be true to a very large degree, considering the past antecedents of the president. But Whether or not President Buhari would have had the courage to do so is another topic for another day.

This event should be a wakeup call for the incumbent government to find a panacea to the pervasive impunity that it has rode on. It will more than just mere words to convince the Nigerian populace that this government means business. To this effect, I rest my case.

REFERENCES

Naija News (2018) ‘DSS Director Lawal Daura Arrested, Detained’, naija news.com, Available at: https://www.naijanews.com/2018/08/07/nigeria-news-dss-director-lawal-daura-arrested-detained/ (Accessed: 9 August)

Aanu, A. (2018)’ FG appoints Matthew Seiyefa as new acting DG of DSS’, naij.com, Available at: https://www.naija.ng/1184985-breaking-fg-appoints-matthew-seiyefa-acting-dg-dss.html (Accessed: 9 August)

Sahara Reporters (2018) ‘How Sacked DSS DG Plotted With Saraki To Embarrass The Buhari Presidency’, Available at: http://saharareporters.com/2018/08/08/exclusive-how-sacked-dss-dg-plotted-saraki-embarrass-buhari-presidency (Accessed: 9 August)

Kayode, M. (2017) ‘El-Zakzaky’s continued detention exposes Buhari’s regime to ridicule- Falana’, the vanguard, Available at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/11/el-zakzakys-continued-detention-exposes-buharis-regime-ridicule-falana/ (Accessed: 10 August)