From Lami Sadiq, Mohammed I. Yaba (Kaduna) & Idowu Isamotu (Abuja)
The Department of State Service (DSS) says it has recovered incriminating materials including military accoutrements, large amounts of different currencies and denominations in the houses of the bandits’ negotiator, Tukur Mamu.
The spokesman for the DSS, Peter Afunanya, disclosed this in reaction to Daily Trust’s enquiry about a raid carried out on the Kaduna house and office of Mamu in the early hours of Thursday by the operatives of the secret police.
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Daily Trust reports that the DSS operatives accompanied by military men surrounded the Mamu’s Unguwan Dosa home in Kaduna around 12:30am on Thursday.
After ransacking the home, and carting away phones, laptops and documents, the operatives moved to Mamu’s office at Unguwan Sarki around 4am.
An eyewitness from the office told our reporter that the operatives broke into a safe in the office and also seized the phones of security guards.
Mamu was arrested by operatives of the DSS at the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano on Wednesday after he was deported from Egypt at the request of the intelligence agencies. His close associate and renowned Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmed Gumi, has declined comment on the arrest.
But Afunaya in his response said that many things recovered from those places raided were so incriminating, saying the arrested publisher of the Kaduna-based newspaper, Desert Herald, would be charged to court.
‘‘So far, appropriate security agencies have executed valid search warrants on Mamu’s residence and office. During the processes, incriminating materials including military accoutrements were recovered.
‘‘Other items include large amounts in different currencies and denominations as well as financial transaction instruments. While further investigations continue, Mamu will, sure, have a day in court,’’ Afunanya said.
However, speaking with one of our correspondents earlier, a member of Mamu’s family alleged that operatives of the DSS had pencilled down associates of the publisher and were monitoring their activities. He said some of Mamu’s close associates had gone into hiding for fear that they might be picked up by security agents.
The family member also confirmed that Mamu’s two wives who were deported with him had been released and returned to Kaduna while the publisher, his oldest son, Faisal; and his brother-in-law were still in custody.
The family source who pleaded anonymity for fear of intimidation said Mamu’s family had been traumatised by “the intimidation of operatives of the DSS” adding that over 50 personnel had raided the home and office of the publisher.
“We are still in trauma and shock over this intimidation. We call on conscientious Nigerians not to allow this injustice to prevail. This is a man who put his life at stake for the sake of others, yet all he could get was harassment, intimidation and threats to life. This can only happen in a country that has suppressed the rule of law and rights of its citizens,” he said.
Meanwhile, the secret police has beefed up security around its facility in its Abuja headquarters.
One of our correspondents, who visited the area at about 9:30am on Thursday, observed the presence of an unusual number of masked personnel of the service.
A source at the headquarters of the secret police told Daily Trust that the deployment might not be unconnected with the presence of Mamu at the facility.
The source added that the security agency was also being proactive due to a protest staged by workers of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) to kick against oil theft in the Niger Delta region.
