These are indeed trying times for the Department of State Security[DSS] as they face an uncertain future under the Muhammadu Buhari presidency and there appears to be no end in sight to massive realignment of roles , fully executed from the Aso Villa. In what looks like interagency rivalry, soldiers have taken over the statutory roles of men of the State Security Service[SSS] as Presidential Body Guards and operatives within the inner spheres of the Villa. They[SSS] will henceforth, stay away from President Buhari’s wife, Aisha and children.
The change of guards came through a memo by Buhari’s Aide de Camp[ADC],Lt.Col. Abubakar Lawal Mohammed, directing the Secret Service to move away from within close range of the president’s office and residence. The president’s Chief Security Officer[CSO], Abdurahman Mani, countered the directive quoting relevant statute to support his action. Lawal is a military police officer while Mani belongs to the SSS. Presidential spokesman Femi Adesina tried to offer a middle way explanation when he assured that there was no rivalry between the two agencies. According to him, the SSS were not asked to leave the Villa entirely, they were given the outer territory still within the presidential complex, to secure. A few days later, the President appointed a new Director General for the DSS. Katsina Lawal Musa Daura, was recalled from retirement to replace Ekpeyong Ita. And just as the new boss was about settling down, Mani was dropped as CSO and redeployed to Ebonyi. The new CSO is Bashir Abubakar, an Assistant Director. The shake-up also consumed Widi Liman , an Administration Officer[AO], in the Presidential Villa. These changes mean more than meets the eye.
The law has been quoted by the SSS. Section 2[i] [ii] of Instrument No. SSS 1ofMay 23 1999, pursuant to Section 6 of the National security Agencies Act of 1986, otherwise known as Decree 19, re- enacted as Section 6 of NSA Act CAP N74 LFN 2004, favours the Secret Service. By this Act, the SSS is saddled with the responsibility of protecting the president and members of his immediate family with body guards. The Army and the police have their functions spelt out. The Brigade of Guards also provides outward cover just like the police. These agencies do not have to control the security of the Vice president, the Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives and visiting foreign dignitaries. That is the role of the SSS. We may be constrained to believe that a few persons in the Army still see President Buhari as Gen. Buhari, the Head-of –State. This may be out of ignorance of the law, overzealousness or both. As a democratically elected president, he is a different man from the Buhari of 1983-1985. This is not an unconstitutional government that would emerge, where it does, to rule by decree after suspending the constitution. The SSS deserves some respect as an independent agency. If there are misgivings about certain operatives from the Niger Delta who formed part of the network in the last dispensation, there are administrative methods to redeploy them. That cannot in any way, take away the statutory function of the Secret Service.
While we support the Buhari regime in its drive to ensure due process in promotions, we also caution that the missteps of a few should not be visited on the entire agency. There are indications that some of those who were promoted in the immediate past, neither sat for the mandatory examinations nor attended any interview. Reversing such is a welcome development. President Buhari should also watch some of his aides so that history does not repeat itself. When he assumed office in the 1980s, the military descended on the Police Mobile Force[PMF]. They were hounded and chased away from duty at Dodan Barracks, Lagos. The mobile policemen were so groomed by Inspectors General Adamu Suleiman and Sunday Adewusi to protect President Shehu Shagari with sophisticated weapons. The Army saw them as a huge threat. The Army should not feel threatened by the Secret Service. At formation in 1976, as the Nigeria Security Organisation[NSO], the first Director General was a soldier, Col Abdullahi Mohammed.
During the Chief Olusegun Obasanjo years, Col. Kayode Are headed the SSS, which was so renamed under Ismaila Gwarzo from 1986. The SSS had enjoyed the services of well trained bosses, from Umaru Shinkafi to Albert Horsfall, Peter Nwaoduah and Afakriya Gadzama. In terms of specialized training, their operatives have attended courses both at home and abroad. They can stand tall anywhere in terms of presidential body protection. We advise that both agencies work in harmony and face their respective areas of advantage. The military must realise that all agencies serve in different capacities, to achieve a common goal. Last month, they ordered the Police, Immigration and Customs Services to drop their camouflage uniforms. Now they are squaring up with the SSS. The idea of using soldiers as Presidential Body Guards reminds all of the dark days of the Sani Abacha regime when they were seen more as assassins and killer squad. President Buhari definitely cannot afford to open that sad chapter of our history.
