Exclusive: Why Buhari sacked SSS from State House

Reasons have been adduced for the removal of officers and men of the Department of State Security Service, DSS, from the State House by President Muhammadu Buhari. Dependable sources told Nigerian Pilot Saturday that Buhari is not comfortable with the undercover security agency based on its alleged role in the last presidential election. For instance, it was revealed that since assumption of office, Buhari has not invited the Director General of DSS, Ita Ekpenyong to any of his security meetings. The Aide De Camp, ADC to President Muhammadu Buhari, Lieutenant Colonel Lawan Abubakar in a circular he issued, gave the directive to DSS officers attached to the president to move out of the State House. The circular mandated soldiers to take charge of the president’s residence and office, while the DSS personnel will man the gate and other areas, not directly within the villa. “Only soldiers will serve as bodyguards to Mr. President, while the SSS personnel will no longer have access to President’s residence and office and even the council chambers’, the circular by the ADC read. The officials belong to the Body Guard Unit of the DSS and had been working in the Presidential Villa since the days of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, late president Umaru musa Yar’Adua and immediate past President Goodluck Jonathan. A highly placed security source yesterday told Nigerian Pilot Saturday that President Buhari is no longer comfortable with the service because of the alleged role the DSS played in the just concluded general elections. According to the source, the DSS has the constitutional role of protecting the President, but he believes that the service is sympathetic to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. He said that what is going on in the Presidential Villa is setting a very bad precedence for all the security agencies and the country in general. Nigerian Pilot Saturday had gathered that there were moves to replace the operatives with men of the Nigerian Army Intelligence Corps. The ADC to the President had last week rejected about 253 operatives of the DSS recently redeployed from the service’s various state commands to the Presidential Villa. Our correspondent learnt that trouble started for the DSS operatives, last week, when a security aide of President Muhammadu Buhari went round offices in the evening to chase the DSS officials out. He was reported to have said that a directive had been given that they should no longer be allowed access into the premises. Some of the affected officials who spoke with our correspondent on the condition of anonymity expressed shock over the development. They however said they would still resume at their beat today (Saturday) except they receive a contrary directive from their headquarters. “We were asked to leave the premises or risk arrest. As I am talking to you now, some of us are gathering under the trees while some others have left. “It is surprising, but we have no choice than to resume here again tomorrow (today) and see what will happen. “The only reason why we may not come here is if we receive any other directive from our headquarters,” one of the officials told our correspondent on the telephone. However, the Presidency in a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said Buhari had not given any order for the expulsion of DSS officials from the Presidential Villa. The statement read, “Rumours that personnel of the Department of State Services have been expelled from the Presidential Villa are unfounded. “President Muhammadu Buhari has given no such order. “While it is true that a reorganisation of security at the Presidential Villa, which involves the realignment of personnel from various services, is underway, the exercise does not translate to the expulsion of DSS personnel from the premises in any way. - See more at: http://nigerianpilot.com/exclusive-why-buhari-sacked-sss-from-state-house/#sthash.Nm6FVQv1.dpuf