STATE SECURITY SERVICE (SSS): A MAJOR THREAT TO THE RULE OF LAW IN NIGERIA

By Toyo Jimmy, Esq.

Premium Times, an online platform, in its report of 4th December, 2016, titled ‘Shocking: How Nigeria’s secret police, SSS, “tortured” man to death; then paid family N15 million to keep mum,’ chronicled the controversial death of Saheed Eyitayo in the custody of the State Security Service (SSS). According to the report, the SSS invaded the house of late Eyitayo in search of his friend, Rilwanu Jamiu, now standing trial for allegedly cloning the phone number of the Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode. The report captured how the SSS harassed the residents of Aje Street in the Iyana Ipaya area of Lagos State, and how they beat Eyitayo to a pulp.

Similarly, on 10th May 2015, the SSS in its usual commando style, invaded the home of one Mr. Samuel Nwankpa located in Southern Kaduna, Kaduna State. That event occurred at about 1 o’clock in the morning. Mr. Nwankpa, his wife, and his 5 children aged 3 to 16 were arrested. Their phones were seized from them and switched off. Upon sunrise, frantic efforts were made to discover the whereabouts of the Nwankpas. Nwankpas’ extended family engaged the services of lawyers who visited the SSS office and Police Area Command in Kaduna State in search of the Nwankpas. The SSS denied having the Nwankpas in their custody. They, however, suggested that the lawyers should search for the Nwankpas at the Nigerian Army, Division 1, Kaduna State, SSS national office, or the Police Headquarters in Abuja. The lawyers visited these places but they were informed by the authorities that they had no knowledge of the whereabouts of the Nwankpas. About a week after, Nwankpa’s wife and children were released by the Kaduna State office of the SSS.

On 26th May 2015, the Kaduna State office of the SSS called Nwankpas’ lawyers and asked them to come alone; without Nwankpas’ family members.There in their office, the SSS informed the lawyers of the death of Samuel Nwankpa and promised to compensate his family for the loss. They cited heart injury as the cause of his death.

These two examples are few of the instances the SSS haS exercised its power in a brazen and arbitrary manner. Most of the times when the SSS is called upon to carry out its responsibilities, its agents have always acted as if the Service is not a creation of law or funded by taxpayers’ money.


The National Security Agencies Act, Cap N74, Laws of the Federation, 2004, establishes the State SSS as one of the three national security agencies. In section 2 (3) of the Act, the Service is charged with the (i) prevention and detection of crime within Nigeria; (ii) preservation of the internal security of Nigeria; and (iii) protection and preservation of non-military classified matters concerning the internal security of Nigeria. Has the Service succeeded in meeting its core mandate? The answer seems to be in the negative.

The Boko Haram insurgents continue to ravage the North East, kidnappings and cattle rustling are rife in the southern part of Nigeria, while tribal and communal clashes are common occurrences in some parts of the country. It is submitted that the Service has failed to live up to its mandate. Instead, the Service seems distracted from its core mandate and takes up functions that do not fall within the confines of its powers. For example, petitions bordering on corruption, theft, etc. are now acted upon by the Service whereas these arguably do not fall within their job description.

The Service acts with impunity; it has no respect for the lives, and the human rights, of the citizens. The Service routinely disobeys court orders and gets involved in pettiness by releasing unnecessary statements that seem critical of certain entities or political parties. The Service is fast losing its credibility and expected touch of professionalism. It unilaterally changed its name ‘State Security Service,’ given to it by the law, to ‘Department of State Service.’ A few years ago, the Service ransacked the Lagos office of the All Progressives Congress (APC). This year again, the Service has raided the Governor's Lodge of Akwa Ibom State in search of arms, invaded the Ekiti State House of Assembly, and raided the homes of some judicial officers. This sort of conduct paints the Service in a bad light and degrades the standards of professionalism always associated with secret agencies. The SSS has forgotten that it is a secret police so to speak whose actions ought to be kept away from the public. However, the Service brings to the public all its activities and has in most cases acted in a partisan manner. Our so-called secret police even has a spokesperson!

The Service must be called to order. It appears that it is yet to recover from the military rule hangover. It is a known fact that during the military rule, the Service used to commit heinous crimes against the Nigerian people. Times have changed, and the Service should get accustomed to democracy.

Firstly, the Service should be removed from the control of the presidency. The Service, as it is constituted, is solely answerable to the president and not the Nigerian people. That is why any Nigerian president can send the Service on any errand. Given the functions it performs, the Service should be made to operate professionally, with some level of independence. Subjecting the Service totally to the control of the president makes it amenable to partisanship, but averse to independence.

Secondly, appointing the Director of the Service should be made subject to Senate confirmation. It is unimaginable that an appointment to the office as the Director of the Service is not made subject to the Senate confirmation in this democratic dispensation. Subjecting the Service’s directorship appointment to confirmation will encourage checks and balances and affords the Senate the opportunity to scrutinize the president’s appointee. In the United States, the directorship of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) - the agency that gathers domestic intelligence (a function analogous to the SSS) - is subject to confirmation by the United States Senate. Also, the appointment of Director of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) by the president of the United States is made subject to the advice and consent of the U.S Senate. Why should our own be different?

Thirdly, the National Security Agencies Act should be amended. The Act leaves so many functions to the discretion of the president. This is not the best for our democracy. Intelligence agencies possess a lot of powers, and some of those powers cut into citizens’ privacy. Thus, it is only where their powers are spelled out that there will be a check on such powers. In the United States, powers of secret intelligence agencies are adequately spelled out. For example, the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 elaborately spelled out the functions of the CIA. This method should be adopted.

Fourthly, there should be an appointed officer who may be known as Civil Liberties Protection Officer in the SSS. This officer will work to ensure that the service, in the performance of its duties, does not abuse the rights of the citizens.

In conclusion, the functions of intelligence gathering are serious. The stability or otherwise of every country depends on the efficiency of its intelligence gathering agency. Where there is poor intelligence gathering, the stability of a nation hangs in a balance. Thus, it is imperative to upgrade the intelligence capabilities of the SSS, de-feed it of partisanship, force it to observe the rule of law, and make it professional. It is only when this is done that we will be able to have a Service that provides timely, objective intelligence that is independent of political considerations. The Service, as of today, has failed in its mandate. Ironically, the very agency that supposed to preserve our internal security constitutes a security risk to the citizens. A service that fails to play by the book cannot be entrusted with the maintenance of our internal security.

Toyo Jimmy is a legal practitioner and an advocate of good governance, rule of law and women equality; toyoabasijimmy@gmail.com

we all no they re now acting like loose touts

Modify please. FTC by the way.

Interesting read

What about DSS?? These people are just tring to be above the law

A dictator in government

Ok.