DSS Frees Four Bayelsa Men Held Since 2022 Over Alleged IPOB Links, Approves N20m Compensation
The Department of State Services (DSS) has released four men detained for over four years over alleged links to the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
It also approved N20 million as initial compensation for them after investigations cleared them of the allegations.
The Director-General of the DSS, Oluwatosin Adeola Ajayi, approved the release and an initial payment of N5 million to each of the four men. They are Emele Uduma Ibe, Berefgagha Appah, Ondokeyilemi Aggry and Oyeinmokebebeton Aggry. The men were arrested in May 2022 in the Sampou and Akeddei communities of the Kolokuma/Opokuma and Sagbama Local Government Areas of Bayelsa State.
They were reportedly picked up on suspicion of trying to set up an IPOB camp in the area.
Security sources said investigators later established that the men were still at the recruitment stage when they were arrested. They had allegedly been lured by IPOB members with a promise of N100,000 monthly payments, said to be under the Federal Government’s Amnesty Programme. The DSS reportedly concluded that they were misled rather than active members of the group.
The men were received by their lawyers, Deji Adeyanju and Partners, who commended the Service for upholding human rights. Speaking on behalf of the four, Ibe thanked the DSS boss and described the day of their release as the happiest of his life.
He said the experience had taught him a valuable lesson that he would share with others.
Sources also said the men would receive medical and psychological support on top of the cash, as other cleared suspects have, along with help to reintegrate into society.
The latest release follows similar decisions by Ajayi. Chineze Ozoadibe and Sunday Ifedi were each paid N10 million after being cleared, and Kenneth Okechukwu Nwafor received N5 million. Three Abia State men, Augustine Udemba, Nelson Onyedikachi Udemba and Ifesinachi Eze, were also freed with N5 million each. The DSS is said to have reduced the number of detainees in its facility to about 100 after a review of inherited terrorism-related cases. The DG recently admitted that the Service, like any institution run by humans, can make mistakes, and said that where there is injury there must be a remedy.
