The changes at the Department of
State Services (DSS), Nigeria’s secret
police, entered another phase during
the week with new postings and a
series of reversals.
TheCable understands that Marilyn
Ogar, who was until recently
DSS deputy director, public relations,
has been transferred to Maiduguri,
Borno state, but the posting has now
been put on hold following
insinuations that it was “punitive”.
Ogar, as spokesperson, was
responsible for defending the activities
of the agency in the media and she is
believed to be paying for some of her
pronouncements, notably in the face-
off with the Bring Back Our Girls
movement and the DSS raids on the
Lagos office of the All Progressives
Congress (APC) last year.
She has already lost her promotion
following the nullification of the recent
exercise.
“Right now, she is just hanging
around in Abuja awaiting the next
order,” a source at the agency
informed TheCable.
President Muhammadu Buhari recently
appointed Lawal Musa Daura as the
acting DSS director-general following
the resignation of Ita Ekpenyong, who
was reportedly asked to go because
of the “partisanship” of the agency
under former President Goodluck
Jonathan.
About 45 new state directors who
were promoted under Jonathan have
lost their new ranks as their
promotions have been reversed.
Buhari refused to swear them in last
Thursday, an indication that the
promotion exercise had been annulled.
Daura has also ordered the sack of
fresh graduates who were
recently employed after an eight-
month training.
TheCable understands that Daura has
been mandated to probe the tenure of
his predecessor. An official from the
office of the secretary to the
government of the federation (SGF)
has been pencilled down to do the job.
The official, from Katsina state, is
expected to be appointed as the new
director of finance, taking over from
an operative from Plateau state who
was only appointed recently.
“Daura’s mandate is to probe
Ekpenyong, but it is not looking bright
because some of the allegations being
examined are difficult to prove. It has
now been established that the raids
on APC office in Lagos were based on
a tip-off by an APC member. This has
complicated matters,” the source
added.
DSS had raided the office on the
allegation that the voters’ biometric
cards were being illegally produced
there, a move that generated public
outrage. The agency did not charge
any suspect to court.
Some top DSS operatives, meanwhile,
are beginning to question the capacity
of the new DG to pilot the affairs of
the agency.
One of them told TheCable:
“Daura was informed about the attack
in Kano way before it happened. He
refused to release money or approve
the operations until bombs went off in
three states.
“His records show that he was at the
very bottom of his class, and during
his service years, his file was filled
with a lot of queries that should
ordinarily disqualify him from the job.
There are a lot of competent northern
officers who can lead the DSS. Daura
is not one of them.”
The reorganisation exercise is
expected to continue as new
governments usually fill strategic
positions at the agency with loyalists.
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