News

Why We Celebrated Bichi’s Exit – DSS Officers

Published

1 year ago

August 31, 2024

Some officers of the Department of State Services (DSS) have described the exit of their former boss, Yusuf Bichi, as ‘freedom from unprofessionalism’.

The DSS officers, who spoke on condition of anonymity
listed Bichi’s alleged misconduct to include undue interference in the service’s operations by his wife and son, Yusuf Bichi.

A video of some DSS staff members allegedly celebrating Bichi’s resignation surfaced online immediately after his departure.

However, an X user, Sanusi Jibrin, said the clip was recorded at the Kogi State DSS office, where personnel were celebrating Ajayi’s appointment, as he was a former director at the state command.

A DSS officer, however, said personnel of the agency were happy with his removal.

“We believed his regime was a punishment for us. He impeded the career advancement of many officers by extending the service years of those due to retire. Some senior officers, who were due for retirement in 2021 and 2022 were retained in the service,” he stated.

Another officer alleged that Bichi was indifferent to the welfare of workers.

“The Federal Government increased our salary by 40 per cent, but there was no implementation. We were earning more than the police before, but the police are now earning more than us because they implemented their 40 per cent increment. However, there was a proposal to increase our salary by 25 per cent this year, but it has yet to be realised,” the officer said.

Speaking on the recruitment of personnel, another secret agent described Bichi’s recruitment as nepotistic.

“Bichi’s recruitments were arbitrary and lopsided. Three different training sessions have been conducted for some people we didn’t know when they were recruited this year alone. Most of the newly recruited personnel are northerners.

“His first recruitment in 2019 brought in either 420 or 450 persons from Bichi Local Government Area in Kano alone. In the history of the service, 450 was the maximum recruitment we ever had before Bichi, but he recruited 1,000 personnel at once.

“There was no southerner among the national directors and deputy directors at the headquarters until January this year when he was directed by the Presidency following a petition. His wife is another issue; she abused her husband’s office. His son, too, was power drunk.

“Just two weeks ago, his wife slapped a DSS director in a northern state. She also slapped at least two deputy directors at airports.”

Tweeps also criticised the former DSS boss, accusing him of allowing his family to abuse power because of his position.

The publisher of Daily Nigerian, Jafaar Jafaar, while commenting on X, said Bichi turned the DSS into a “graveyard of career aspirations.”

“He lowered the recruitment bar, removed the multi-layer screening process to recruit personnel who couldn’t even pass the Halogen Security aptitude test. Bichi arguably recruited the highest number of Cotonou ‘graduates’ into the service. He wilfully extended the tenure of some retired directors in his good book for years, killing the ambitions of the aspiring directors. He allowed his wife to lord over the service, influencing recruitment, promotion and discipline,” he stated.

Jafaar alleged that Bichi’s wife oppressed people with “a superfluity of everything at the expense of public funds,” adding that she moved around in a long motorcade, harassing motorists.

“She was a stormy petrel, who was majorly in the news for either assaulting her tailor for failing to meet a deadline or picking a fight with opposition politicians. His impudent, spoiled brat son shrugged off public criticism to gleefully display a fleet of luxury cars on social media.

“At the expense of public funds, he has a number of DSS operatives giving him cover at football arena, nightclub and political campaign rallies.”

A check on Bichi’s son, Yusuf’s X page, saw a video clip of when he rode in a long convoy of security operatives, suspected to be men of the DSS.

In 2023, the Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, had also claimed that Bichi’s wife threatened to prevent him from becoming the state governor.

The governor, in a viral video, also alleged that the woman abused and insulted him before preventing him from boarding a commercial plane.

The Executive Director of the Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, Debo Adeniran, stated that the alleged celebration of Bichi’s resignation by some staff members did not necessarily mean he was a good or bad leader.

According to him, workers do not like disciplined bosses who insist that everybody should do the right thing and reject corruption.

“I’m not saying the former DG is good because we could see a lot of loopholes in intelligence gathering and security issues.

“That staff and colleagues are celebrating his exit, it’s neither here nor there. It could be that he is very, very strict or it could be that he has not been taking care of their welfare and whatever.

“It could also be that he didn’t allow them to do their work the way they wanted to do it. And maybe his exit will allow them to prove their mettle, that they could work better than they were doing under him”, he added.

Illegal arrests, violation of court orders

Under the leadership of Bichi, the DSS was involved in many controversial operations, including the arrest of a former Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele.

Emefiele was arrested on June 9, 2023, and was only arraigned more than a month later.

On 25 July, despite a Federal High Court order granting him bail and ordering his transfer to a correctional centre, the DSS re-arrested him, with operatives reportedly assaulting a prison official at the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, in the process.

A former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore, was also a victim. He was arrested on August 3, 2019, just days before a planned protest tagged #RevolutionNow against “bad governance”.

Although released on bail on December 5, Sowore was re-arraigned on December 6.

The DSS attempted to re-arrest him inside the courtroom but were prevented by his supporters; however, they succeeded in re-arresting him outside the court.

Another case involved a citizen Anthony Okolie, who was detained by the DSS for 10 weeks for purchasing and using an MTN SIM card previously used and discarded by Hanan Buhari, the daughter of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Also, the Regional Editor of The Conversation Africa, Adejuwon Soyinka, was arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos last Sunday and detained for hours before his release. However, his passport was confiscated.

Efforts to reach Bichi proved unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report.
PUNCH

News

[JUST IN] Trump’s Threat: Nigeria Ready To Work With US, Other Countries To Wipe Out Terrorists – FG

Published

4 hours ago

November 5, 2025

Editor

The Federal Government has said Nigeria is willing to work with the United States and other countries to wipe out remnants of terrorists and criminal elements in Nigeria.

Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, stated this during a world press conference in Abuja on Wednesday.

While acknowledging that Nigeria is faced with insecurity challenges, he clarified that it is not targeted at any religion or group, as peddled by faulty data.

He saud in the last two years, President Bola Tinubu has deepened his commitment to dealing with insecurity, evident in the country’s improved standing on the Global Terrorism Index and recent change of security service chiefs.

He called on the United States and other nations to support President Tinubu in ridding the menace of criminals and terrorists making life unbearable for Nigerians.

“The Nigerian government is willing to work with other international bodies, including the United States, to ensure that criminals are permanently wiped out.

“We welcome support from international partners, including the US, to deal with its security challenges.

“President Tinubu is taking the lead to resolve all challenges with the US, including other countries.

“Nigeria is not running away from the fact that we have a big insecurity situation.

“The government and people of Nigeria have taken note of the US stance over the alleged violation of human rights.

“President Tinubu is determined to confront and end security challenges,” he said.

Recall that last week, US President Donald Trump threatened military action in Nigeria if nothing is done about alleged killings of Christians.

This comes after Trump designated Nigeria as a ‘Country of Particular Concern’.

News

Edo Twin Babies Died Of Natural Causes — Autopsy Report

Published

6 hours ago

November 5, 2025

Editor

An autopsy report regarding the death of twin babies who were referred to a medical facility in Benin has revealed that the babies died naturally.

The twin babies were referred to Med-Vical Medical Centre, Benin, on August 2025 in a severely ill condition and extremely premature.

The babies died in the hospital which led to family members and friends accusing the hospital of masterminding the death of the twins through negligence.

The widespread of allegations prompted the Edo State Police Command to initiate an investigation into circumstances surrounding the death of the babies.

In the autopsy report conducted by a team of pathologists —Dr. Ducan Iyawe, Dr. D.E Imasogie, Dr. K.O Abinokhauno, and Dr Ijomone, and made available to newsmen on Wednesday, it was revealed that the baby died of natural causes.

The final report was read in the presence of the Edo State Commissioner of Police, the state Ministry of Health, and the Nigerian Medical Association (Edo State Chapter) on Wednesday.

The findings listed the cause of death as foetal squames in the lungs leading to respiratory distress, acute foetal asphyxia, neonatal sepsis and bronchopneumonia

“The autopsy has shown clearly that the baby died of natural causes and there was in fact no case of negligence, secrecy, or any form of malpractice as alleged,” the report stated.

News

Ex-IYC President Demands Toru-Ebe, Oil River States Creation, 33 LGs In Bayelsa

Published

22 hours ago

November 4, 2025

Editor

Pioneer president of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC),
Dr Felix Tuodolo, has called on the Federal Government of Nigeria to create Toru-Ebe and Oil River states.

The former commissioner for Ijaw Affairs in Bayelsa State also urged the government at the centre to create 33 Thirty-three (33) additional Local Government Councils for Bayelsa State.

Tuodolo, who said Bayelsa is one of the largest oil and gas producing states in Nigeria, added that the state accounts for a substantial portion of the country’s oil production, estimated to be around 35-45%.

He noted that despite the state’s significant contribution to Nigeria’s GDP, land and river mass and huge potentials for steady growth and development, the state currently had only eight (8) Local Government Areas, emphasising that Thirty-three LGAs were proposed for creation to make Bayelsa a constitutional state since the 1999 Constitution stipulates that every state must have a minimum of ten LGAs.

The statement read, “Importantly, the three major tribes in Nigeria all have their own states. The Yorubas have six states, the Hausa- Fulani has 19 northern states and the Igbo has five, and now seven with the resolutions to create a sixth state for them and an extra state in each Geo-political zone, which Ijaws strongly supports. But the Ijaws do not have a single state because the only Ijaw state, namely, Bayelsa, does not even meet the requirement of a state with only eight LGAs. The proposed new thirty-three LGAs for Bayelsa must be created for the Ijaws to accept that they have a state. Nigeria should take seriously the creation of 33 additional LGAs in Bayelsa State. This 33 LGs creation was as old as the creation of Bayelsa State.

“These including other demands made by the INC Global in the envisaged new constitution include: (d) Protection and remediation of the Ijaw environment (6) Federal resource contribution through resource control and payment of tax (1) True federal Constitution (with no unitary colouration) (g) Reintegration of own vide the wholesale prosecution of the Ijaw struggle for self-determination, which had lasted centuries (h) Improve the quality and quantity of representation in the Ijaw region”, he added.

Dr Tuodolo also threw his weight behind the call by the INC Global the creation of Toru Ebe State out of the present Ondo, Edo and Delta States.

He argued that the oil revenue from the Ijaw areas in the three states accounts for the largest revenue accruing to the National Economy, stressing that despite the receipt of the 13% Derivation Revenue by the 3 states (Delta, Edo and Ondo), the Ijaw areas which are mineral producing had been denied of any meaningful development.

“The proposed state with a population of 2.7million people has natural landscapes with beautiful beaches and lengthy coastline which can be annexed into a blue economy and tourism that will make the State economically viable”, he noted.

The INC Global also demanded the creation of the oil river state.

“We proposed Oil Rivers State that will comprise Ijaws in Rivers and Akwa ibom States. These areas remain the most naturally blessed but environmentally degraded in the entire world with massive oil (exploration) and gas flaring threatening the very survival of the People”, he emphasised.