BREAKING: DSS DG Releases Suspected IPOB Member Detained Since 2022, Awards N5m Compensation

• DSS Director-General Oluwatosin Adeola Ajayi has ordered the release of Kenneth Okechukwu Nwafor—detained since 2022—and awarded him N5 million compensation after a fresh review found he was wrongfully arrested over alleged IPOB links.

Barely one month after ordering the release and compensation of one Abuja-based business woman, “Mrs. Chineze Ozoadibe”, the Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), “Oluwatosin Adeola Ajayi”, has ordered the release of “Kenneth Okechukwu Nwafor”, arrested in July 2022 for his alleged involvement in the activities of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB).

The DG also awarded Nwafor, who hails from Isuikwuato LGA of Abia State, “N5 million” as compensation for the wrongful arrest, alongside free medicare.

Credible security sources revealed that a detailed investigation conducted by personnel of the Service exonerated Nwafor.

According to one source, the release and compensation are in line with the Director General’s directive that all the cases he inherited be reviewed to ensure due process and prompt dispensation of justice.

“The DG directed his investigation officers to conduct detailed review of all pending cases and they have been dutifully doing that. Nwafor’s case is one of such cases,” the source said.

The source added that the gesture is one of several by the DG and reflects his commitment to the rule of law and adherence to the Service’s standard operating procedure. He further disclosed that three Abia men — “Udemba, Onyedikachi and Eze” — suspected of belonging to IPOB, were also released.

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“Mr Tosin Ajayi acknowledges that as humans, we sometimes make mistakes. He also believes that when such mistakes are made, the right thing is to make amends. That is why he has established a culture of accountability and humanly makes efforts to remedy the mistakes of the Agency,” the source added.

The source also recalled that the DG previously paid “N20 million” as compensation to a Jos-based businessman who was mistakenly shot in the leg during a 2016 security operation. Although the court had awarded “N10 million” in damages against the DSS, the agency failed to comply until Ajayi became DG — and he doubled the amount.

Nwafor isn’t the first Igbo to be released and compensated under similar circumstances. Some months ago, the DG ordered the release of three young men wrongfully detained over alleged IPOB links.

Just last month, he paid “N10 million” as compensation to the Abuja-based Igbo businesswoman arrested by a sister security agency for alleged illegal oil bunkering. The DG then added “N10 million for five others to share,” the source explained, noting that “this has become the trend since the new DSS leadership.”