Nigeria’s secret police, the Department of State Services, DSS has against invited former deputy governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Dr Obadiah Mailafia, over his claims that one of the governors in Northern Nigeria is the head of Boko Haram.
Mailafia was quizzed over the claim he made on an interview he granted an Abuja- based Radio FM at the Jos, Plateau State office of the DSS last Wednesday for six hours but released unconditionally.
Bawa Ba, the lawyer of the former CBN Governor confirmed on Monday morning that Mailafia is expected again at the DSS office Jos, Plateau state capital, by 12 noon on Monday, August 17, 2020.
He told The Nation that the invitation “was a buildup to the previous one, it is a process with security agents. It is normal for further discussion.”
Recall that the DSS had accused Mailafia, of attempting to breach the peace with his claim in a statement issued after his encounter with the secret police last Wednesday.
Mailafia had also in an interview he granted the BBC Hausa a day after his encounter with DSS said that he got the information about the alleged involvement of the said governor from “some Fulani traders” and did not know that his statement would go viral.
The Nigerian Broadcasting Commision (NBC) said the interview breached the ammended Nigerian Broadcasting Code and fined Nigerian Info N5 million.
In its statement of last Thursday, the DSS, through its spokesperson, Dr. Peter Afunanya, also noted that in spite of the apology tendered by Mailafia at the DSS office in Jos, Plateau State, he stuck to his position as the truth when he was released.
“Mailafia, as a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and currently, a Directing Staff at Nigeria’s foremost Policy Research Institute, the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, has unhindered access to government’s platforms. It is expected that he should be conversant with official information management protocols.
“But regrettably, he chose to cross the lines of decorum and conduct expected of a personality of his status. It is disappointing that he never took advantage of these to reach any of the security or related agencies to share the so called information at his disposal,” the statement said.
“This, he has agreed to be a grievous error on his part. It, however, suggests his mischief and determination to use the fake news he spewed to incite the people under his control.
“It is even more condemnable that Mailafia, who had profusely apologised during his visit to the Service’s Plateau State Command for his ignoble statement, would, afterwards, announce to the world that he stood by his misguided eruption.”