₦airaland Forum

A credible source has confirmed that operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) on Dec 27, arrested the leader of the gang and another, who kidnapped and murdered a prominent professor of neurology, Ekanem Philip Ephraim in 2023 The gang leader, Patrick Essien Etim aka Pato, 23, and his accomplice, Bassey Antiha Asuquo, 40, were apprehended at a medical facility in Cross River State while planning to kidnap another medical bigwig.

According to the source, the DSS had been tracking the kidnap ring since Ephraim's killing in July 2023, when gunmen posing as patients abducted her.

The duo has confessed to the crime, admitting that they killed the professor after collecting multiple ransom payments from her family.

'It has been two years of torment for her loved ones, not knowing what happened to the Professor. I believe that, with this arrest, her family and loved ones will be able to finally have some peace and the much-needed closure that they deserve, the source said.

The suspects also owned up to kidnapping other victims and vandalizing electricity cables, with one Isaac Ekpeyong, who was also arrested by the operatives, according to the sources.

Recall that Professor Ekanem was abducted on 13th July, 2023 by unknown gunmen who posed as patients at her private clinic at Atimbo Road, Calabar. Her kidnap sparked statewide protests by the state chapter of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA). The medical association had embarked on an indefinite strike, which crippled the health sector for over a week, in a bid to prevail on government to rescue the Professor.

Read more: https://vigil360.com.ng/browse-all-sections/security/just-in-dss-arrests-gang-leader,-murderers-of-prof-ekanem-philip-ephraim.html

Since his appointment as Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS) in late August 2024, Mr Adeola Oluwatosin Ajayi has demonstrated an unmistakable commitment to press freedom and respect for journalists and media organisations.

Unlike in previous years when the SSS was notorious for serial harassment, intimidation, and arrests of journalists, the agency under Mr Ajayi’s leadership has shown remarkable restraint, professionalism, and openness to dialogue. Conflicts between the Service and the media are now resolved amicably, through engagement rather than coercion.

A few examples illustrate this transformation.

Barely hours into his tenure, one of our colleagues, Adejuwon Soyinka, was intercepted and detained in Lagos. Within hours of IPI Nigeria bringing the matter to his attention, Mr Ajayi directed the Lagos Command to release the journalist immediately.

For decades, our member Lanre Arogundade had suffered humiliating treatment at Nigeria’s borders, having been placed on the SSS watchlist since the 1980s. Despite years of advocacy, previous assurances that his name had been removed turned out to be untrue. Shortly after assuming office, Mr Ajayi received a formal complaint from IPI Nigeria and acted swiftly, permanently deleting Mr Arogundade’s name from the watchlist.

Read more...https://www.premiumtimesng.com/features-and-interviews/840736-full-detail-why-ipi-nigeria-gave-sss-dg-oluwatosin-ajayi-commendation-award.html

By Danladi Shehu

If a man cooks for a community ,the meal would scarcely go round, However, if a community decides to cook for a man, the feast will overwhelm him - old African proverb. The foregoing may have aptly captured the likely outcome of the current standoff between the Department of State Services (DSS) and Omoyele Sowore, activist and presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2023 general elections.

Speaking during his latest state visit to Brazil in late August, President Bola Tinubu, while wooing Brazilian investors, assured that his government had rid the foreign currency exchange market of speculators and corruption. For emphasis, the president stressed, "The Central Bank Governor is here. You do not need to know him before getting the foreign exchange that you need."

I watched the entire remarks made by President Tinubu. At no point did claim to have rid Nigeria of corruption, as that would have been preposterous. President Tinubu was specific about foreign currency operations under his watch. And he didn't mince words about that.... read more...

The Catholic Bishop of Maiduguri Diocese, John Bakeni, has praised the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigerian Army for the successful rescue of Reverend Father Alphonsus Afina, who was abducted by Boko Haram insurgents on June 1. Father Afina was kidnapped in Gwoza, Borno State, drawing international concern due to his previous service as a priest in Alaska from September 2017 to 2024. He was taken along with an unspecified number of fellow travelers on the Liman Kara-Gwoza road in the Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State....
https://vigil360.com.ng/browse-all-sections/security/insecurity-catholic-church-applauds-dss-army-for-rescue-of-rev-fr-and-others-freed-32-abducted-in-zamfara-by-boko-haram.html

IbrahimSalihu from Nairaland:

"Sowore has the opportunity to also form a coalition with the disgruntled Apapa and Abure of the Labour Party to achieve his long-held aspiration to become Nigeria's president! " https://www.nairaland.com/8465977/sowores-presidential-ambition-improves#135972668

True o. Let me relax with my pack of popcorn 🍿 😋