vBy Suleiman Umaru
Between mid- 2023 and much of this now, there have been rumours making the rounds that Ahmed Rufai Abubakar, Director -General, National Intelligence, NIA, and Yusuf Magaji Bichi, his Counterpart in Department of State Services, would be relieved of their appointmentS by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and replace them with new ones.
The rumour became pronounced with the removal and replacement of Usman Baba, the immediate past Inspector General of Police , IGP and replace by Kayode Egbetokun and Hameed Ali, a retired Army Colonel and Comptroller General of Nigerian Customs Service, NCS, and subsequent appoint of Bshir Adewale Adeniyi a career officer, to replace. Even when Mrs. Caroline Wura-Ola Adepoju, whose term in office as the Comptroller General of Nigerian Immigration Service, NIS, expires on February 29, 2024 but was renewed leading to the appointment of another career officer in the agency in the person of Kemi Nanna Kendap , to replace, security analysts had expected the DSS and NIA, Director Generals to be removed as well but they were said to have stay put.
However, the last August End Bad Governance against hunger and hardship protests linked to Sowere Omiyele, a former Presidential Candidate of African Action Congress, AAC, in the February 25, 2023, Presidential election and now on the watch list of the NIS and the rising cases of Banditry and in the flash point states of Zamfara, Sokoto, Kaduna , Katsina and the north central state of Niger and insurgency in Borno and Yobe sates may have reopened the Campaign for their removal from office to have clean break with the Buhari’s Administration.
The two top intelligence security Chiefs job may have been made worse with the recent kidnap of 20 medical students of Universities of Jos, Plateau state and Maiduguri, Borno state, who were in a convoy of two vehicles on their way to Enugu, south eastern Nigeria, to attend the Federation of Catholic Medical and Dental students, annual Convention, but fell into the waiting hands of Bandits turned kidnappers along the Otukpo –Enugu road taken to their forests hideouts.
Many had expected Abubakar and Bichi, described as the two most powerful intelligence security Chiefs dduring the Buhari’s Administration inherited by the Tinubu’s Government to sustain the tempo of intelligence gathering in the country to support the military and Kayode Egbetokun, led Nigerian Police Force, NPF, in enhancing the national security.
The duo may have given the Nigerian President who is a hurry to get the kidnapped Medical students rescue from the hands of the kidnappers from their forest hideouts in Benue state when they failed to take the initiative to facilitate the rescue of the 20 Mediacal students in the custody of the Bandits.
They were said to have alowed Nuhu Ribadu, a retired Assistant Inspector General of Police and former Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and now National Security Adviser, NSA, to take the lead to Coordinate the Operations that was aid to have facilitated the rescue of the 20 kidnapped students from Ntokun forests in Benue state without any loss of life. The NSA, who understands what security is all about was said to have worked closely with Egbetokun, the Inspector General of Police, IGP, in order to achieve results.
The DSS, under the Leadership of Bichi, which had accused Godwin Emefiele, a former governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, of aiding and abetting Terrorism in Nigeria, may not have found the President’s appointment of the NSA, as the Coordianator of the Operations to rescue the kidnapped Medical students funny as there was said to be an undeclared war by the secret police Director General to sabotage Ribadu in the national assignment.
Given that the Nigerian President’s moves to stop anyone posing as a as stumbling blocks in the efforts of the NSA, ‘’towards stamping out kidnapping, Banditry and insurgency in the country’’ may have encouraged him to take the bold initiative to give a matching order to the two intelligence security Chiefs regarded in security circles as untouchables who had been in office since the Buhari’s Administration since 2018 to resign to pave way for injection of fresh hands into the agencies to boost the country’s intelligence gathering.
The DSS boss was said to have been undermining the Presidential initiatives in sabotaging the NSA’S Coordinating efforts to rid the country of Bandits, terrorists and kidnappers over the last one year has no option but to resign.
The resignation of Bichi, who had occupied the office of the Director –General, of DSS, over the last seven years may have thrown the agency into jubilation on Monday, August, , 2024, meaning that he was not in good book of the security personnel who may have been praying to see his back.
In order to fill the vacuum that had been created in the intelligence agency, Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the Nigerian President on Media and Publicity, had said that Oluwatsin Ajayi, who had served as Director of DSS, in Rivers, Bauchi, Kogi, Enugu, Bayelsa and the State House, Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, FCT by the President, was appointed to replace him.
Many expects the new DSS helmsman to introduce fresh ideas and strategies to the secret police’s operations , by focusing on enhancing the country’s internal security and addressing existing and emerging threats of Banditry, terrorism and kidnapping across the country.
The Nigerian President may have alluded to this when he said the new DSS chief, would bring to bear his wealth of experience into the management of the affairs of the agency ‘’to reposition it professionally for better output’’.
As a thorough bred intelligence agency chief who believes in team work, he may have found as his watchword, the need for Collaboration with other security and intelligence agencies as well as work in surgical alignment with the office of the NSA, to rid the country of Banditry, terrorism activities and Kidnapping, across the country.
The new DSS, Director General, may have shown that he is ready to right the wrongs created by his predecessor while still in office with the release of Adeuwon Soyinka, the Regional Editor of Conversation Africa and Investigative Journalists, who had been in the agency custody at the Ikoyi office, Lagos, the nation’s commercial nerve centre. This clearly shows that there may be a ray of hope for the elease of Nadi Kanu, founder of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, a Separatist, who had been in the secret police custody over the years.
Abubakar, the Director General, NIA, was said to have been the first to bow to pressure from the Presidency to resign before Bichi, his Counterpart in DSS, followed suit. Although, the former NIA, Director General, had said that he tendered his letter of resignation to the President due ‘’to personal and family issues’’, stressing that nothing was seriously amiss as ‘’the President graciously approved and accepted his resignation’’ after serving under his transformation Leadership for an extended period of fifteen months from the previous Mhammadu Buhari’s Administration, describing as ‘’very rare.’’. He had said that he had a good working relationship with the President and other security and intelligence agencies.
Determined to rejuvenate the NIA, the Nigerian President, was said to have appointed a seasoned Diplomat, Ambassador Mohammed Mohammed, to fill the vacuum that had been created in NIA, with the exit of Abubakar.
The new NIA, boss, was said to have served in the country’s Foreign missions in North Korea, Pakistan, Sudan and Presidential Villa, Government House Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, FCT. He was said to have served as the head of the country’s mission in Libya, a n indications that Nigerians will see a robust NIA, doing what it is supposed to do, feed the security agencies with relevant information to launch attacks on the enemy’s positions in their forests hideouts with precision without missing and expose sponsors of the Bandits, Terrorists and Kidnappers in different parts of the country.
President Tinubu, appears to have gotten it right to stamp out Banditry, terrorism and kidnap activities across the country and clip the wings of the oil thieves in the Niger Delta, with the powers that had been given to the NSA, to fully Coordinate the country’s security Operations and the security and intelligence agencies Chiefs and their personnel are now working according plans.
This is evident going by the recent directive Hasan Abubakar, an Air Marshall, and Chief of Nigerian Air Force, NAF to the Ai Component Commanders to step up military operations and hit the Bandits, terrorists and oil thieves hard to force them out of the dirty business. He was emphatic.’’ You must continue to hit them hard until they succumb to the NAF superior fire power’’, he had said.
The Air Force Chief, who had commended the officers over the recent operational success in Kaduna forests and Shiroro forests in Niger states, had said that it clearly shows their Leadership and professionalism of the men and women under their respective Commands. Hear Him: He was said to have urged the Air Component Commanders to continue leveraging on intelligence, precision strikes and collaborative efforts with sister services to neutralize the remaining threats to the country’s security.
