News

Why We Celebrated Bichi’s Exit – DSS Officers

Published

1 year ago

August 31, 2024

Editor

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

Two Schoolchildren Electrocuted In Anambra During Rainfall

Published

6 hours ago

October 14, 2025

Editor

Tragedy struck in Nnewichi, Nnewi North Local Government Area of Anambra State on Monday when two schoolchildren were electrocuted while taking shelter from the rain at a roadside shop.

The incident, which occurred at St. Peter’s Claver Junction, threw the community into mourning.

Eyewitnesses and CCTV footage revealed that several pupils had gathered at the shop to escape the downpour when the tragedy happened.

A resident near the scene, who pleaded anonymity, recounted, “Several pupils were taking shelter at the roadside shop during the heavy rainfall. But tragedy struck when the wet bodies of two of the schoolchildren came in contact with a live metal, and they were instantly electrocuted.”

According to witnesses, panic spread as the children collapsed instantly, while others narrowly escaped.

The shop owner was said to have not yet opened for business when the incident occurred.

“It took the intervention of some security officers and passers-by, who used protective gloves to evacuate the bodies,” another eyewitness said.

The incident came just days after a similar tragedy in the same Nnewi area, where a woman was swept away by floodwaters in the Uruagu community.

When contacted, the Anambra State Police Command spokesperson, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, confirmed the incident, noting that an investigation was underway.

“The facts are not clear yet, but the divisional police officer has been directed to find out the details for a comprehensive report,” Ikenga stated.

The latest tragedy adds to recent cases of electrocution in the state.

In May, a three-year-old girl was killed in Awka after stepping on a live cable belonging to the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company.

Residents had reportedly alerted officials about the fallen high-tension wire, but it was not repaired until after the fatal incident.

A resident, identified as Uche, said, “The cable fell on Friday and wasn’t fixed until Sunday, after it had electrocuted the girl. The officials even requested ₦30,000 to fix it but didn’t show up until it was too late.”

The repeated incidents have reignited public concern over poor electricity infrastructure and safety negligence in Anambra communities.

News

Oyo Orders Traders To Vacate Airport Road In Two Weeks

Published

7 hours ago

October 14, 2025

Editor

The Oyo State Government has issued a two-week ultimatum to traders operating along Airport Road, Old Ife Road, and Onipepeye areas of Ibadan to vacate the roadside or face enforcement action.

The directive was detailed in a Tuesday statement released by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Seyi Makinde, Dr. Suleimon Olanrewaju.

He warned that the state would no longer tolerate roadside trading or the placement of container shops on drainage.

According to the statement, “the government has provided markets and other designated spaces for trading across the city, making it unnecessary and unsafe for traders to occupy roadsides.”

The government said the action was necessary to safeguard lives, prevent environmental hazards, and protect public infrastructure.

It also warned that trading on walkways and blocking drainage channels increases the risk of flooding and undermines the state’s efforts to promote tourism.

“The government has a duty to protect citizens from all manner of danger,” the statement said, noting that roadside trading exposes people to serious risks.

The ultimatum expires on October 27, after which enforcement will begin.

The government said “non-compliance could lead to the confiscation of goods and prosecution of offenders.”

It appealed for cooperation from residents to ensure a cleaner, safer, and more sustainable environment in the state.

News

Admissions: Mathematics No Longer Compulsory For Arts Students, Says FG

Published

7 hours ago

October 14, 2025

Editor

Nigerian senior secondary school students in arts and humanities will no longer be required to present a credit in mathematics in their Senior School Certificate Examination, organised by the West African Examination Council and National Examination Council, as a condition for admission to universities and polytechnics, the Federal Ministry of Education said on Tuesday.

For years, admission seekers in arts and humanities, like their contemporaries in sciences and social sciences, have been mandated to have five credits, including mathematics and English language, to secure admission into higher institutions.

“The revised National Guidelines for Entry Requirements into Nigerian Tertiary Institutions are designed to remove barriers while maintaining academic standards.

“The new framework applies to universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, and Innovation Enterprise Academies across the country as follows:

“Universities: Minimum of five (5) credit passes in relevant subjects, including English Language, obtained in not more than two sittings. Mathematics is mandatory for Science, Technology, and Social Science courses.

“Polytechnics (ND Level): Minimum of four (4) credit passes in relevant subjects, including English Language for non-science courses and Mathematics for science-related programs.

“Polytechnics (HND Level): Minimum of five (5) credit passes in relevant subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.

“Colleges of Education (NCE Level): Minimum of four (4) credit passes in relevant subjects, with English Language mandatory for Arts and Social Science courses, and Mathematics required for Science, Vocational, and Technical programs,” a statement by the FME’s spokesperson, Folasade Boriowo, said.

An education analyst, Ayodamola Oluwatoyin, who spoke to our correspondent in Abuja, hailed the reform.

“This is a brilliant reform, which we hope will open the doors and improve the ease of admissions into tertiary institutions for more seekers.”

The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, described the reform as a deliberate effort to expand access to tertiary education.

The ministry also approved a comprehensive reform of admission entry requirements into all tertiary institutions across the country, increasing the average annual intake from about 700,000 to one million students.

According to the government, the new policy aims to expand access to higher education and create opportunities for an additional 250,000 to 300,000 admissions each year.

The minister explained that the reform became necessary after years of limited access, which left many qualified candidates unable to secure admission despite meeting the required standards.

“Every year, over two million candidates sit for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), yet only about 700,000 gain admission. This imbalance is not due to lack of ability but outdated and overly stringent entry requirements that must give way to fairness and opportunity.

“The reform is a deliberate effort to expand access to tertiary education, creating opportunities for an additional 250,000 to 300,000 students each year. It reflects our commitment to ensuring that every Nigerian youth has a fair chance to learn, grow, and succeed—putting the Renewed Hope Agenda into action,’’ he said.

The revised National Guidelines for Entry Requirements into Nigerian Tertiary Institutions are designed to remove barriers while maintaining academic standards.