IS it the State Security Service (SSS) or the Department of State Services (DSS)? This is a question many people ask.

Many public organisations are named and established by law. Nigeria’s primary domestic intelligence agency the State Security Service (SSS), known as the Department of State Services (DSS), is one such agency.

Its primary responsibilities include obtaining national intelligence and safeguarding the security of significant political persons.

It functions as a department within the executive branch of government.

The law that created the SSS
The law creating “State Security Service” is known as the National Security Agencies Act 1986.

Section One of the Act says: “There shall, for the effective conduct of national security, be established the following National Security Agencies, that is to say-(a) the Defence Intelligence Agency; (b) the National Intelligence Agency; and (c) the State Security Service”.

According to the National Security Agencies Act 1986, “State Security Services” is created to detect and prevent crimes within Nigeria that may threaten the national security of Nigeria.

However, in recent years, the SSS has portrayed itself as the Department of State Services (DSS) in official statements and all its official social media accounts.

Nigerians and the media have also frequently referred to the agency as DSS rather than SSS, which has generated a lot of debate in the country.

Lawyers’ view on the use of the name DSS
According to some lawyers who spoke to The ICIR, the name “State Security Services” and the National Security Agencies Act 1986 have not been amended or altered since 1986.

They agreed that the use of the name Department of State Services (DSS) by the State Security Service (SSS) is illegal and a violation of Nigeria’s National Security Agencies Act.

Hence, the statutory, legal and known name remains “State Security Services” and not DSS.

A Lagos-based lawyer, Adefisoye Okunade, said the name change is unknown to the law and a violation of the law.

“The use of “DSS” is a violation of the law. Section 1(c) of the National Security Agencies Act, Cap. N74, LFN, 2010.

According to Okunade, the referenced statutory authority provides that:

“There shall, for the effective conduct of national security, be established the following

National Security Agencies, that is to say-

READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/sss-or-dss-what-does-the-law-say/

That department has turned itself to a department that lacks discipline and is doing everything that is not democratic in nature that if I was in the military I would use their failure to plan coup. The way this policians are using them to abuse citizens is just to much we might has well be in military government, at least its not too expensive.