Renowned Nigerian human-rights lawyer and Lead Counsel to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Sir Ifeanyi Ejiofor, has commended the appointment of Mr. Adeola Ajayi as Director-General of the State Security Service (DSS).
He also urged him to revisit the numerous cases of human-rights violations, particularly the unlawful detention of innocent citizens from the South-East, which were perpetrated under previous DSS leadership.
Ejiofor made the appeal in a statement titled:“WEEKEND MUSING: A RARE GLIMPSE OF INSTITUTIONAL CONTRITION – THE DSS, A NEW SHERIFF, AND THE AUDACITY OF REDEMPTION: When State Power Momentarily Remembered Its Humanity.”
According to him, the announcement of Ajayi’s appointment by the Tinubu administration was widely regarded by discerning Nigerians as “the long-awaited placement of a round peg in a round hole.”
Ejiofor noted that Ajayi’s antecedents marked by competence, discipline, and a humane disposition made his emergence a welcome development.
He recalled that he had previously dedicated an entire column appealing to Ajayi to revisit the catalogue of human-rights abuses and arbitrary detentions of innocent South-Easterners carried out by the DSS before he took charge.
Ejiofor described it as “astonishing” that an institution of government, long associated with impunity and heavy-handedness, would voluntarily depart from entrenched patterns of abuse.
According to him, the rare gesture of a security agency recognizing wrongful detentions and offering redress is more commonly seen in mature democracies where human dignity is truly foundational.
Yet, he said, in an unprecedented turn, the new DSS DG has chosen a different path.
Since Ajayi assumed office, Ejiofor observed, the transformation within the DSS has been “palpable.”
He credited the new DG with recalibrating the institution from a fear-driven, coercive force into a professional, service-focused intelligence agency committed to minimizing human-rights infractions,reducing judicial embarrassments,fostering disciplined inter-agency cooperation, and enforcing strict anti-corruption standards.
However, Ejiofor noted that nothing prepared the nation for Ajayi’s recent historic action.
A few days earlier, Ajayi had for the first time in Nigeria’s democratic history publicly compensated citizens, including several of Igbo extraction, who had been wrongfully detained by the previous DSS leadership.
He further revealed that a task force was already reviewing similar cases with determination to free all innocent people still held in detention.
Ejiofor described the gesture as an act of courage, magnanimity, and institutional repentance, rekindling a fragile yet growing sense of hope that government institutions can sometimes rise above entrenched patterns of abuse.
He contrasted Ajayi’s approach sharply with that of his predecessor, whose tenure he said was “marred by rampant abductions, enforced disappearances, illegal detentions, and widespread violations, particularly against innocent Igbo youths, men, and women.”
Many victims, he added, were arrested at night, transported to facilities such as Wawa Barracks in Niger State, and denied access to lawyers or family members—some since 2019.
“These citizens became victims not of law, but of dangerous and reckless labelling,” he said.
Ejiofor appealed once again—“like the proverbial Oliver Twist”—for Ajayi to extend his reformist zeal to these forgotten detainees.
He expressed confidence that a thorough review would justify their immediate release, and insisted that any individual against whom a prima facie case exists should be promptly charged to court so that justice can take its proper course.
Nigeria, he said, will continue to applaud and support rare public servants like Ajayi, who demonstrate the courage to break with destructive institutional traditions.
He also emphasized that citizens must play their part in promoting national peace, safety, and security.
“With this unprecedented step,” Ejiofor concluded, “the DSS under Mr. Ajayi has not merely reformed an institution; it has momentarily reminded Nigeria of what good governance ought to look like.”he added.
##
0 Comments