A retired officer of the State Security Service (SSS, also referred to as DDS), Nwaogu Ezeakolam, has apologised to the company’s director-general for taking an inside dispute public.
His apology got here months after he accused SSS operatives of detaining him after he complained concerning the alleged mismanagement of welfare funds belonging to an affiliation of retired officers.
His apology got here months after alleging that he was tortured and detained for 21 days following a petition that accused him of being an Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) commander. The former officer alleged that the management of the Association of Retired Department of State Services Officers of Nigeria (ARODSSON) in Abuja orchestrated the petition after he complained concerning the alleged mismanagement of welfare funds belonging to an affiliation of retired officers.
Mr Ezeakolam has additionally threatened to sue SaharaReporters, which printed his allegations in July, demanding a retraction of claims he now considers inaccurate.
In a letter dated 22 September, Mr Ezeakolam appealed to the SSS Director-General, Oluwatosin Ajayi, to forgive him for taking the matter to the general public, describing his determination as a “serious error in judgment.”
The circumstances surrounding the apology and the following authorized risk increase questions concerning the dealing with of the dispute. However, the obtainable paperwork don’t set up that Mr Ezeakolam was compelled to apologise or that the separate actions had been linked.
“I write this letter with deep regret and humility, to apologise for my decision to escalate and publish an internal matter on an online media space,” he wrote within the letter to Mr Ajayi, saying he has realized a “painful and important lesson from this incident.”
Mr Ezeakolam mentioned he had not supposed to hurt Mr Ajayi or expose him to “legal difficulties,” including that he now recognised that inside issues had been delicate and mustn’t have been made public.
“I humbly and sincerely apologise for the harm and embarrassment that my actions may have caused you and your reputable office,” he added, pledging his allegiance to the Nigerian authorities.
Mr Ezeakolam, who retired from the service in April 2010, appealed to the director-general to forgive him and resolve the matter internally.
“I plead with you, sir, to temper justice with mercy and resolve the matter internally,” he wrote.
The letter didn’t specify the results Mr Ezeakolam confronted over the disclosure or whether or not the SSS had initiated any inside disciplinary proceedings in opposition to him.
The backstory
In a SaharaReporters story printed on 29 July, Mr Ezeakolam was quoted as alleging that his dispute with the affiliation’s management escalated after he demanded transparency and accountability within the administration of funds meant for retired officers.
He mentioned he served as secretary of the affiliation’s welfare committee and ready a report and memorandum dated 13 December 2025, urging the management to distribute welfare funds in keeping with the affiliation’s structure.
He accused the FCT chapter chairman, retired officer James Maha, of economic impropriety, together with the alleged mismanagement of greater than N72 million belonging to the affiliation.
He additionally alleged {that a} month-to-month welfare grant of N1 million accredited by the SSS director-general for retired officers had been diverted from its supposed goal.
The allegations haven’t been independently established.
According to Mr Ezeakolam, the dispute took a extra severe flip after the affiliation’s management allegedly petitioned the SSS in opposition to him.
He mentioned the petition, dated 4 March, was ready by Mr Maha and signed by Daniel Okoliko, the affiliation’s FCT chapter public relations officer.
Mr Ezeakolam alleged that the petition described him as an “IPOB and unknown gunmen commander” in Abuja, accused him of being a faux retired SSS officer and alleged that he was planning to bomb the SSS headquarters with improvised explosive units (IEDs)
He maintained that the accusations had been false and mentioned the petition was answerable for his arrest and subsequent detention.
Neither the affiliation’s management nor the SSS’s response to these particular allegations was contained within the report.
It stays unclear whether or not he withdrew the substantive allegations in regards to the welfare funds or his alleged therapy in detention. His apology, as contained within the obtainable letter, centered on the choice to publicise an inside matter.
‘Arrested at SSS headquarters’
According to the SaharaReporters story, Mr Ezeakolam mentioned he was arrested on 7 April whereas visiting the SSS nationwide headquarters in Abuja to submit intelligence experiences on safety points affecting Nigeria’s South-east area.
According to his account, he was contained in the workplace complicated of the assistant director-general of operations at about 12:30 p.m. when officers apprehended him.
He mentioned he was arrested, tortured and detained by officers and males of the Nigerian Hunter and Forest Security Service (NHFSS) who knowledgeable him that they had been appearing strictly on the directives and orders of the DG SSS (DSS), Mr Ajayi.
He mentioned he was later taken earlier than an assistant director of safety investigations recognized as Dayo however was not knowledgeable of the allegations in opposition to him regardless of repeated requests.
Mr Ezeakolam additionally alleged that, throughout his detention, an investigating officer threatened to chain his neck, palms and legs and have officers beat him after he insisted that he ought to be proven the petition in opposition to him earlier than making an announcement.
These allegations haven’t been independently verified.
Arraigned after 21 days in custody
On 27 April 2026, after what he described as 21 days in SSS custody, Mr Ezeakolam mentioned he was arraigned earlier than a Chief Magistrate’s Court in Wuse Zone 6, Abuja.
He mentioned he confronted a one-count cost of allegedly inciting the general public and spreading hatred in opposition to the federal authorities, the SSS director-general and President Bola Tinubu on the affiliation’s WhatsApp platform.
He pleaded not responsible.
According to his account, the courtroom granted him bail within the sum of N200,000, with two civil servants on Grade Level 10 as sureties, however he remained in custody at Keffi jail till the bail situations had been met.
He additional alleged that when he returned to SSS headquarters on 29 April to retrieve his belongings, a few of his private gadgets, together with prescription glasses, two cellphones and copies of intelligence experiences, had been lacking.
The particulars of the magistrates’ courtroom proceedings had been reported by SaharaReporters based mostly on his account.
Separate IPOB-related prosecution
The retired officer’s authorized troubles continued after the magistrates’ courtroom case.
On 6 August, the SSS arraigned him earlier than the Federal High Court in Abuja on 4 counts involving alleged membership of IPOB, offering help to the proscribed organisation and utilizing social media to advance its trigger.
He pleaded not responsible to the costs. The courtroom ordered that he be remanded at Kuje Correctional Centre pending his bail software and stuck 29 October for the graduation of trial.
The obtainable info doesn’t set up whether or not the federal prosecution is linked to the affiliation’s petition or whether or not both case prompted his subsequent apology.
Lawyer calls for retraction
In a separate letter dated 16 October, Mr Ezeakolam’s lawyer, Edmund Ben, principal accomplice of Lawminds Associates, demanded that SaharaReporters publish his shopper’s response to its report and retract any inaccurate or unsubstantiated claims.
The lawyer accused the publication of denigrating the workplace of the SSS director-general and ARODSSON.
“We write to express our profound concern regarding the publication made by your online publication on 29th June 2026, wherein the exalted office of the Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS) and ARODSSON were denigrated,” the letter said.
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However, the SaharaReporters story regarding Mr Ezeakolam’s allegations was printed on 29 July 2026, not 29 June as said within the lawyer’s letter.
Mr Ben demanded that the publication carry his shopper’s official response and proper or retract statements discovered to be factually inaccurate, deceptive or unsupported by proof.
He gave the outlet seven days from receipt of the letter to comply, warning that his shopper reserved the correct to pursue authorized cures if it failed to reply appropriately.
The letter didn’t set up {that a} lawsuit had been filed or specify which specific allegations within the unique report Mr Ezeakolam disputes.
SaharaReporters has not publicly responded to this risk.
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