Real Reasons DSS Arrested Ex-NSA Sambo Dasuki

Operatives of Nigeria’s secret police, the Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested Sambo Dasuki, former national security adviser (NSA), after laying siege to his Abuja residence for three weeks. Dasuki is currently being grilled at the DSS headquarters in Abuja over allegations of stealing $2bn.

Mr Dasuki is accused of awarding phantom contracts to buy 12 helicopters, four fighter jets and ammunition. He denies the allegations. The equipment was meant for the fight against Boko Haram Islamist militants in Northeast, Nigeria. Mr Dasuki was picked up early in the morning by security agents.

Two weeks ago, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered Mr Dasuki’s arrest after he was indicted by a panel investigating the procurement of arms under the last administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan. He was said to have been picked up by intelligence agents from his home in the capital, Abuja, where he was already under house arrest facing separate charges.

His arrest follows those of some of his associates by Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday. The anti-corruption body said they included former Minister of State for Finance Bashir Yuguda and the sons of some prominent politicians of the former ruling party over allegations of impropriety in relation to the arms deal.

Earlier, Mr Dasuki said he had not been given a chance to defend himself before the investigative panel and described its recommendation as “politically motivated”. Mr Dasuki played a prominent role in Nigeria’s fight against Boko Haram. The former army colonel is already facing a trial for allegedly possessing illegal firearms. He is the first senior official of the former government to be charged under the rule of President Muhammadu Buhari, who took in office on May 29.

The president was elected partly on a promise to clean up Nigeria’s notoriously corrupt politics and Dasuki’s arrest will reinforce President Buhari’s message that he will not tolerate corruption no matter how senior the official. Boko Haram has killed thousands in north-eastern Nigeria in its six-year campaign to create an Islamic state.

Prior to his arrest, a federal high court in Abuja granted him leave to travel abroad for medical treatment, but the state police refused to comply with the order of the court.

Despite the subsisting order, the DSS asked the same court, presided over by Adeniyi Ademola, to revoke the bail it granted Dasuki on September 1 on the grounds that the accused person was being investigated for corruption and other criminal matters. Dasuki has denied the allegations of corruption against him, saying that former President Goodluck Jonathan approved all the contracts that were awarded by his office, but the former president denied giving such approvals. ‎

He has also described his trial by the federal government as a “witch hunt”, maintaining that he is innocent of all the charges. The hearing of the application on “bail revocation” is expected to come up on Thursday.

Dasuki has been accused of receiving an extra-budgetary allocation of $2.1 billion from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) within nine months. His arrest came two weeks after President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the service to apprehend him and other persons indicted by the investigative committee set up to audit the procurement of arms and equipment in the armed forces and defence sector from 2007 to date.