Aso Villa Controversy - How President Buhari and His handlers pushed SSS Personnel from getting close to the President

Also Villa Security Controversy - How President Buhari Chased AS out of near President 

PREMIUM TIMES has

obtained more details of how

President Muhammadu

Buhari and his handlers have

pushed personnel of Nigeria’s

secret police, the State

Security Service, from getting

close to the President or

mounting guards or

patrolling areas inside the

presidential villa.

Under the present

arrangement, the operatives

are only to guard the “outer

perimeter” of the presidential

palace, a measure that has

humiliated the 29-year old

agency charged with

gathering domestic

intelligence for Nigeria and

protecting public officials.

The presidency claimed,

through Mr. Buhari’s

spokesperson, Femi Adesina,

that there were “routine

adjustments” of security

personnel at the Aso Rock

Villa. He denied that the

president ordered the

expulsion of the SSS

personnel from the premises.

What Mr. Adesina did not

however say was that the SSS

officials, who were

traditionally part of the

president’s primary security

details, have been banned

from being close to Mr.

Buhari and virtually reduced

to manning the outer gate at

the villa.

A presidential memo, seen by

PREMIUM TIMES Friday,

showed the nature of the

directive barring the SSS (also

known as DSS) from the villa.

The memo, written by Mr.

Buhari’s Aide de Camp,

Mohammed Abubakar, on June 24 and

distributed to key officials in the Villa

stated that from then on, “DSS personnel

have been redeployed from some duty

beats/locations”.

The memo made it clear that the major

security tasks initially being handled by

SSS officials are now to be handled by

officials of other security agencies.

Mr. Abubakar said personnel of the

Armed Forces and the police, who were

trained as Presidential Body Guards,

PBGs, are to “provide close/immediate

protection for Mr. President

henceforth”.

Mr. Abubakar subsequently listed some

of the areas to be taken care of by the

PBGs to include, Admin Reception,

Service Chiefs Gate, Residence Reception,

Rear Resident, Resident Gate, Office

Reception, C-In-C Control Office, ACADE

Gate, C-IN-C Control Gate and Panama.

“However, the personnel of the DSS in

conjunction with other security forces

are to man other duty beats/locations

located within the immediate outer

perimeter of the Presidential Villa,” he

said, without providing reasons for the

action.

Mr. Abubakar added that the Admin

Officer, AO, shall be submitting a list of

all personnel deployed for physical

security within the premises of the Villa

to the office of the ADC every Thursday

for “perusal, observation and approval

as the case may be before final

publication and dispatch to the office of

the CSO”.

The only explanation so far for the “re-

organisation” was provided by Mr.

Adesina who stated that “the changes

being made are routine adjustments

which are not unexpected in any

dynamic environment from time to

time”.

The Spokesperson for the SSS, Marilyn

Ogar, did not answer or return calls

seeking comments for this story.

She also did not respond to a text

message sent to her.