SSS Might Have Been Recycling The Same Suspects For Different Crimes In The Country - ACN

When I read the report last week that SSS paraded some suspects that killed Governor Oshiomole's Aide some days after the Police authorities said they have some people in custody who have confessed to committing the crime. The Police were also able to get confession from one of them that they were offered N20 million to carry out the assassination. I immediately I finished writing the SSS report I raised by doubts about the reports, below is a report by Vanguard newspaper that the ACN have raised fears that the secret agency may have been recycling the same suspects for different crimes in the country.

Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, has called on the Presidency and the National Assembly to urgently investigate claims by the State Security Service, SSS, that it has arrested the suspected killers of Comrade Olaitan Oyerinde, a senior aide to Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole.
In a statement issued in Lagos yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said it was compelled to make the call following the riddle posed by two pictures carried by a national newspaper (not Vanguard) yesterday, which seem to show that the security agency may be recycling the same suspected criminals for different offences.

It said the three suspects in the first picture, who were paraded by the SSS on March 14th for allegedly kidnapping and murdering Briton Christopher MacManus and Italian Franco Lamolinara, in Sokoto, appear to be the same as three of the suspects in the second picture, who were recently paraded by the same SSS for allegedly killing Oyerinde.

‘’Three of the suspects paraded by the SSS for killing Oyerinde appear to wear a complete replica of the same shirts worn by the suspects paraded for killing the foreigners in March. The pictures published by the newspaper is so compelling that we are forced to ask a number of questions from the SSS. Is the agency recycling suspected criminals and deceiving the people that it is indeed solving criminal cases? Does this systemic gimmick go higher than the security agency? For how long has this game been going on? What exactly does the government know about this? And is the PDP privy to this recycling? If not, why was the party so quick to ask the ACN to apologise over the murder of Oyerinde?’’ ACN queried.

The party said the only way the riddle can be resolved is for the government to appoint a panel of respected judicial officers to investigate the SSS, while the National Assembly must conduct a public hearing at which the suspects paraded for killing the foreigners will be placed side by side with those paraded for killing Oyerinde.

‘’The reason why it is important to get to the root of the whole case is because the role of the SSS is so critical in ensuring peace and security in the country”.
For example, the Federal Government has relied largely on the agency to curtail the activities of the Boko Haram. If the agency has been cooking up stories and briefings to government and recycling criminals, how can it satisfactorily play its role? How can it help in resolving the many high profile murders that have been recorded in the country? ‘’Is it that once  any case cannot be resolved or points to government’s suspected involvement, the SSS rounds up some scallywags and parades them to the media, only for the case to go cold? What has become of the suspects paraded in March for allegedly killing the foreigners?’’

ACN said the sooner the government and the legislature get to the bottom of the allegation now facing the SSS, the better for the agency in particular and the country in general, because the moment the people lose confidence in the SSS, the agency can no longer play its complementary role to the other security agencies in ensuring peace and security in the country.