The Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Oluwatosin Adeola Ajayi, has approved the release of four men cleared of alleged membership in the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and ordered an initial compensation package of ₦20 million, granting ₦5 million to each individual.
The four men, identified as Emele Uduma Ibe, Berefgagha Appah, Ondokeyilemi Aggry, and Oyeinmokebebeton Aggry, were arrested in May 2022 during security operations across the Sampou and Akeddei communities in the Kolokuma/Opokuma and Sagbama Local Government Areas of Bayelsa State.
Following a comprehensive case review directed by DG Ajayi, DSS investigators established that the men were innocent citizens who had been deceived. Investigators found that actual IPOB operatives, currently standing trial, had misled the men into believing they were signing up for monthly stipends of ₦100,000 under the Federal Government’s Amnesty Programme.
Speaking at the DSS Headquarters in Abuja, human rights activist and principal attorney at Deji Adeyanju & Partners, Deji Adeyanju, commended the secret police for upholding fundamental human rights.
Adeyanju noted that the individuals were recklessly arrested under the previous administration, praising DG Ajayi for reviewing inherited cases, releasing innocent citizens, and offering financial redress as a demonstration of professionalism and commitment to the rule of law.
Expressing similar sentiments during recent media engagements, Ajayi acknowledged that human institutions remain susceptible to operational errors, emphasizing that when mistakes occur, the Service will offer compensation and pursue structural improvements in line with constitutional standards.
The discharge of the four men forms part of a broader review panel initiated by Ajayi after taking office, which has re-examined over 300 inherited terrorism-related cases and reduced the detainee population at the facility to approximately 100 individuals. As part of this reform initiative, the agency has disbursed over ₦1 billion in compensatory remedies for wrongful detentions and operational mishaps.
These payouts include ₦20 million alongside medical coverage awarded to a Jos businessman following an accidental shooting in Plateau State, ₦10 million each paid to Chineze Ozoadibe and Sunday Ifedi after investigations cleared them of wrongful arrest and alleged IPOB ties, and ₦5 million paid to Kenneth Okechukwu Nwafor upon being cleared of similar security allegations.
