By Hosea Parah
The Department of State Services (DSS) has released four men arrested over alleged membership of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra and approved N20 million compensation for them.
As reported by Punch, the agency said each of the men would receive N5 million after investigations cleared them of the allegations.
The four men are: Emele Uduma Ibe, Berefgagha Appah, Ondokeyilemi Aggry, and Oyeinmokebebeton Aggry.
According to a source in the service, the men were arrested in May 2022 in Sampou and Akeddei communities in Kolokuma/Opokuma and Sagbama Local Government Areas of Bayelsa State.
The source said investigations established that the suspects had been deceived into believing they would receive a monthly payment of N100,000 under the Federal Government’s Amnesty Programme.
“The Agency established that they had been misled into believing that they would each receive a monthly payment of N100,000 under the Federal Government’s Amnesty Programme, not knowing that they were being lured by a group of IPOB members who are now facing trial,” he added.
The suspects’ lawyer, Deji Adeyanju of Deji Adeyanju & Partners, commended the service for its efforts towards safeguarding national security and respecting human rights.
He also praised the Director-General of the DSS, Oluwatosin Adeola Ajayi, for what he described as his genuine commitment to upholding human rights.
Adeyanju said the level of hygiene and professionalism within the service was the best he had witnessed in more than 20 years of interacting with DSS personnel.
He reiterated his earlier position that President Bola Tinubu made the right choice in appointing Ajayi as the DSS Director-General.
Speaking on behalf of the released men, Ibe described the day as the happiest of his life, saying the experience had taught him a valuable lesson he would share with others.
He also expressed gratitude to the DSS leadership and prayed for continued blessings for the agency’s Director-General and management.
Ajayi, upon assuming office in 2024, ordered a review of more than 300 inherited terrorism-related cases.
The exercise had reduced the number of suspects held in the agency’s facility to about 100 following investigations, while more than N1bn had been paid in compensation.
There are also previous compensation payments, including N20m to a Jos-based businessman who was mistakenly shot by its operatives in Plateau State, and N10m each to Chineze Ozoadibe and Sunday Ifedi after investigations cleared them of wrongdoing.
Ajayi had, in a recent maiden media interview, acknowledged that the DSS, like other human institutions, could make mistakes but stressed the need to provide remedies where people suffered injuries.
“Where we admit our mistakes, we offer compensation, and seek ways to improve operations in tandem with the rule of law,” he said.