The Department of State Security Service (SSS), says it would not condone unruly conducts of persons and groups that ought to know better but engage in hostile and subversive activities that are capable of causing unrest in the country.
The DSS in a statement issued on Friday by Peter Afunanya, its Public Relations Officer, was reacting to claim by Obadiah Mailafia, former deputy governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that a governor was sponsoring Boko Haram insurgency.
Mailafia, had in a recent radio interview, claimed that one of the serving governors in the Northern states is a sponsor of Boko Haram.
He said that one of his intels among the repentant Boko Haram members told him so even as he also told newsmen shortly after his release by the SSS in Jos on Wednesday, that though he was misquoted by the media after the interview, he would not backtrack on his claims.
But in its statement, the DSS carpeted Mailafia who he noted was just playing to the gallery with the hope of causing tension with his claims which fell short of a man of his status.
The Service said Mailafia failed to explore appropriate channels to let out his findings which it noted suggested his mischief and determination to use the fake news he spewed to incite the people under his control.
“Mailafiya, as a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and currently, a Directing Staff at Nigeria’s foremost Policy Research Institute, the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, has unhindered access to government platforms. It is expected that he should be conversant with official information management protocols,” the DSS said.
“But regrettably, he chose to cross the lines of decorum and conduct expected of a personality of his status. It is disappointing that he never took advantage of these to reach any of the security or related agencies to share the so called information at his disposal. This, he has agreed to be a grievous error on his part.”
The DSS said despite admitting before its Jos office that his claim was a serious error on his part, the former presidential candidate went ahead to tell newsmen that he stood his words and would not recant or disown them.
It further stated that it would not stand idly and watch disgruntled and aggrieved elements take laws into their hands and cause mayhem in the polity.
“In line with its mandate of detecting and preventing threats and crimes against the internal security of Nigeria, the Service hereby reiterates its previous warning that it will henceforth not condone unruly conducts of persons and groups that ought to know better.
“In this regard, it will not hesitate to, within the confines of the law, decisively deal with such persons and/or groups, no matter how highly placed, that may wish to test its resolve. It will, nonetheless, continue to support participatory democracy in the country and therefore urges all players to abide by the rules of the game,” it said.
Meanwhile, Shehu Sani, a former lawmaker who represented Kaduna Central Senatorial District in the 8th National Assembly has asked that Obadiah Mailafia, a former deputy governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should not be used as a scapegoat following his revelation.
Sani was reacting to call by Northern Governors Forum (NGF) on security agencies to investigate the allegation by Mailafia who was the presidential candidate of African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the 2019 general elections.
The former lawmaker who tweeted from his verified Twitter account on Thursday, stated that rather than being distracted by the revelation made by the erudite economist, the Northern governors should focus their attention on tackling the insecurity problems confronting the region.
“Mailafia should not be used as an excuse,scapegoat or distraction; Northern Governors should focus their attention in finding solutions to the bloodshed and violence consuming and demonizing the region,” Sani tweeted
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