Editor, Denisaurus News – *Additional reports by Daily Trust

On Thursday, 15 December, the Senate rejected the nomination of Ibrahim Mustafa Magu as the substantive chair of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, based on an indicting report it received from Lawal Musa Duara, the Director General of the State Security Service, SSS.

The SSS which is also referred to as the Department of State Security who accused Mr Magu of corruption provided details of its claims in a 16-paragraph document.

Many at the anti-graft commission say “the decision to reject Mr Magu means he no longer holds the position of acting chair.”

They say his position at the agency was subject to being confirmed by the Senate. But, the Senate has rejected him, so in essence, he should be asked to vacate the office.”

Senior staff who have called for Mr Magu’s arrest, say that despite a deliberate attempt to misinterpret the DG DSS report by media allies of the Borno indigene, President Buhari must implement all its recommendations.

They have no reason to doubt the DSS, adding that “the security outfit should be commended in the work it had done to rid the country of corrupt judges and foiling terror attack in the US.”

DSS Was Right To Raid Suspected Judges

On October 8, 2016, the raided the homes of judges following the refusal of the National Judicial Council, NJC to act on the petitions sent to it on allegations of corrupt practices by the affected judges.

The DSS which was authorised by the Attorney-General of Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, were complying with Section 15 (5) of the 1999 Constitution, which vested the state with the obligation to deploy all of its powers to abolish corruption.

Despite gaining the support of many lawyers, judges and politician including the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo SAN, Mr Magu claimed the DSS had no business arresting the judges.

The former Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices, ICPC, Ekpo Nta rejected the claims made by Mr Magu, saying: “the DSS raid was in order, as the agency cam perform the duties of the police.”

US President, Barack Obama Calls PMB to Commend DG of DSS

The DSS busted planned terror attacks in the United States six months ago as part of its counter-terrorism engagements with foreign nations.

Dozens of western intelligence agencies are trooping to Abuja to interface with terrorists arrested by the secret service, a top official of the agency told Daily Trust yesterday.

The official who spoke in confidence because of the sensitivity of the matter said U.S. President Barack Obama had personally called President Muhammadu Buhari to thank him for the DSS’ busting of the attempted terror attacks.

He said the service had extracted “valuable intelligence” from top Boko Haram terrorists it arrested and “has been utilizing the intelligence with other countries to avert terror attacks and arrest terrorists” across the world.

The source said the DSS’ arrest of the world’s third most wanted terrorist, Khalid al-Barnawi was of great significance in the intelligence community.

Al-Barnawi the, leader of the Boko Haram’s splinter group, Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina Fi Biladis-Sudan (Ansaru), was arrested last April in Lokoja, Kogi State.

According to the source, al-Barnawi was responsible for the murder of all expatriates kidnapped by the terrorist group between 2012 and 2013 in Nigeria.

“Intelligence services from across the world have been besieging the DSS to obtain information on different issues from al-Barnawi since his arrest,” the security source said.

The captured terrorist is “uniquely capable” of strengthening Boko Haram’s ties with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), al-Shabab, the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJWA) and the al-Qaeda, according to the intelligence sources.

The U.S. Department of State designated al-Barnawi a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under Executive Order 13224 on June 21, 2012. The U.S. placed a $5million bounty for his arrest.

The security source said despite the arrest of al-Barnawi, “no bounty was collected by the DSS for the arrest.” He said counter-terrorism synergy between Nigeria and the U.S as well as other western countries has “tremendously increased recently.”

The secret service has been a rallying point for many countries’ intelligence agencies “who are trooping here for one thing or the other in the areas of intelligence gathering and sharing.”

The source said the major concern of the intelligence community in 2017 is the stockpiling of all manner of weapons by politicians ahead of 2019 elections.

“The situation is scary. Politicians are now more dangerous than Boko Haram. They are already sharpening their knives ahead of 2019 elections,” he said.

He said it is a pity that Nigerian politicians believe that “acts of brigandage and thuggery give colour to politics. Their irresponsible and emotion-laden comments are serious threats to the security of the country.”

The official said the DSS is “fully prepared to contain the fallout of the crushing of Boko Haram enclave in Sambisa. We are ready to contain the fleeing terrorists. We have planned for the outcome of the capture of Sambisa months before it was actually captured.”