DSS invites ICIR reporter for questioning

The Department of State Services (DSS) has invited an investigative reporter at the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), Niyi Oyedeji, for questioning.

According to the newspaper, Oyedeji was invited by telephone on Thursday by one Bayo Paul, who claimed to be an official of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command of the DSS.

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In a report, ICIR narrated how the operative who contacted its reporter over the phone attempted to trick Oyedeji.

“Paul asked the reporter if he was a member of Transparency Integrity Group, to which he declined. Paul tried to coerce the journalist into telling him his name, but the reporter stood his ground, refusing to disclose his name on the phone.”

“He called back a few minutes later, mentioned the reporter’s name, and asked him to report to the SSS office in Abuja on Friday by 10 am. When asked how he got the reporter’s number, Paul said he got it from the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT),” the newspaper said.

Editor of The ICIR, Ajibola Amzat, was said to have later contacted Paul to ask why the SSS, as a responsible organisation, would not invite the reporter in writing, but he replied that the organisation would sometimes call to invite persons for interrogation.

“We do call, we do call. The only thing is to verify the source of the call. I am not inviting you to anywhere apart from the office. You can as well trace the number and ask the source or owner of the number if genuinely I am a staff of the State Security Service,” Paul told The ICIR Editor.

When asked the reason for the invitation, the newspaper quoted Paul as saying, “My boss did not tell me. He only gave me his number, his name, and he asked me to invite him to his office.”