The Department of State Services, DSS, has discharged four individuals who experienced prolonged detention following erroneous arrests over alleged associations with the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB. Alongside their freedom, the security agency disbursed a total of N20 million as financial redress for the unlawful incarceration.
Following a comprehensive evaluation that confirmed their innocence, the Director-General of the DSS, Oluwatosin Ajayi, mandated their immediate discharge. The exonerated individuals have been identified as Emele Uduma Ibe, Berefgagha Appah, Ondokeyilemi Aggry, and Oyeinmokebebeton Aggry, all of whom endured years behind bars before the agency's internal investigative panel cleared them of any wrongdoing.
What led to the release of the detainees?
According to official disclosures, the four citizens were picked up by mistake and remained in custody for an extended period until a recent case file audit established that they had no operational or ideological links to IPOB activities.
This development forms part of a broader administrative overhaul spearheaded by Ajayi since assuming leadership of the security institution. The current Director-General has initiated a series of reviews aimed at identifying and rectifying cases of arbitrary arrests and extended detention without trial.
What is the background of recent administrative reforms at the DSS?
This recent action follows a pattern of remedial interventions implemented by the secret police leadership. In a similar case, the DSS boss ordered the discharge of a Kaduna farmer who spent two years in custody over unfounded allegations of ties to Boko Haram, accompanied by a N3 million compensation payout. The agency also elevated a financial settlement from N10 million to N20 million for a Jos businessman who sustained injuries from operative gunfire in 2016.
Further precedents include the November directive concerning Kenneth Okechukwu Nwafor, who was taken into custody in July 2022 over purported IPOB affiliations and subsequently granted N5 million in damages. Prior to that intervention, three men originating from Abia State—Augustine Udemba, Nelson Onyedikachi Udemba, and Ifesinachi Eze—were liberated and awarded N5 million each.
In October, the agency equally facilitated the freedom of an Abuja-based businesswoman, Mrs. Chineze Ozoadibe, alongside an approved compensation package of N10 million, reflecting a continuous institutional push to address historical grievances regarding unlawful detentions.