
Press statement from the Department of State Security
1. The attention of the Department of State Services (DSS)
has been brought to the report making rounds that its operatives illegally
blocked the residence of the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo
Dasuki (Col/Rtd), in violation of a subsisting court order granting him a
relief to travel oversea for medical services. This is to say the least that
such report is not only unfounded and malicious but aimed at tarnishing the
good image of the Service.
2. It may be recalled that SAMBO was initially arrested and
charged to court for unlawful possession of firearms and money laundering, for
which reason his international passport was seized and on the order of the
court, returned to the registrar for custody. What has however brought the
seeming standoff between SAMBO and the Service, despite the court-ordered
release of his international passport on 4th November, 2015, is his refusal to
appear before a Committee undertaking the investigation of an entirely
different case.
3. The public may wish to note that the government set up
the Committee to investigate procurement processes relating to a two billion
dollar ($2billion) arms transaction by the last administration, under which
SAMBO was the NSA. It was on this premise that he was invited by the Committee
to shed more light on his involvement in the deal. It, therefore, remains
surprising and shocking that SAMBO has refused to honour invitations of the
Committee but instead resorts to grandstanding and subtle blackmail of the
Service. His refusal to appear before the Committee has left the Service with
no option than to adopt legal means to ensure his attendance.
4. Therefore, without doubt, SAMBO is pulling all strings
available to him to evade justice and put the Service in bad light. The simple
fact is that the DSS is not persecuting him. Nigerians are therefore enjoined
to disregard the impression being created by him. This Service wishes to
re-emphasise its commitment to the rule of law and strict adherence to democratic
ideals. However, any person or group, no matter how highly placed, that may
wish to test the will of the present democratic dispensation, will definitely
be checked through the legal provisions of the law.
Tony OPUIYO
Department of State Services,
Abuja.
5th November, 2015
Department of State Services,
Abuja.
5th November, 2015
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