Ex-SSS officer apologises to DG after alleging torture, 21-day detention

A retired officer of the State Security Service (SSS), Nwaogu Ezeakolam, has apologised to the agency’s Director-General, Oluwatosin Ajayi, for taking an internal dispute involving the association of retired officers to the public.

The apology came months after Ezeakolam alleged that he was detained and tortured for 21 days following a petition accusing him of being an Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) commander.

In a letter dated September 22, Ezeakolam described his decision to publicise the dispute as a “serious error in judgment” and appealed to Ajayi to forgive him.

“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.

He said he had learned a “painful and important lesson” from the incident, adding that he did not intend to harm the SSS director-general or expose him to legal difficulties.

“I humbly and sincerely apologise for the harm and embarrassment that my actions may have caused you and your reputable office,” he added.

Ezeakolam, who retired from the service in April 2010, also pledged allegiance to the Nigerian government and urged Ajayi to resolve the matter internally.

“I plead with you, sir, to temper justice with mercy and resolve the matter internally,” he wrote.

However, the letter did not specify whether the SSS had initiated disciplinary proceedings against him or the consequences he might face over the disclosure.

The circumstances surrounding the apology remain unclear. Available documents do not establish that Ezeakolam was compelled to apologise or that the apology was connected to a separate legal threat against SaharaReporters.

In a report published by SaharaReporters on July 29, Ezeakolam alleged that his disagreement with the leadership of the Association of Retired Department of State Services Officers of Nigeria (ARODSSON) escalated after he demanded transparency in the management of welfare funds.

He said he served as secretary of the association’s welfare committee and prepared a report and memorandum dated December 13, 2025, urging its leadership to distribute welfare funds in accordance with the association’s constitution.

He accused the association’s FCT chapter chairman, retired officer James Maha, of financial impropriety, including the alleged mismanagement of more than N72 million belonging to the association.

Ezeakolam also alleged that a monthly welfare grant of N1 million approved by the SSS director-general for retired officers had been diverted from its intended purpose.

The allegations have not been independently established.

According to Ezeakolam, the dispute intensified after the association’s leadership allegedly petitioned the SSS against him.

He claimed that the petition, dated March 4, was prepared by Maha and signed by the association’s FCT chapter public relations officer, Daniel Okoliko.

He alleged that the petition described him as an “IPOB and unknown gunmen commander” in Abuja, questioned the legitimacy of his retirement from the SSS and accused him of planning to bomb the agency’s headquarters with improvised explosive devices.

Ezeakolam maintained that the allegations were false and said the petition led to his arrest and detention.

The available report did not contain responses from the association’s leadership or the SSS to these specific allegations.

According to the SaharaReporters report, Ezeakolam said he was arrested on April 7 while visiting the SSS national headquarters in Abuja to submit intelligence reports on security issues affecting Nigeria’s South-east.

He said officers apprehended him at about 12:30 p.m. while he was in the office complex of the assistant director-general of operations.

He alleged that he was arrested, tortured and detained by officers and men of the Nigerian Hunter and Forest Security Service, who told him they were acting on the directives of Ajayi.

Ezeakolam further claimed that he was taken before an assistant director of security investigations identified as Dayo but was not informed of the allegations against him despite repeated requests.

He also alleged that an investigating officer threatened to chain his neck, hands and legs and have officers beat him after he insisted on seeing the petition before making a statement.

These claims have not been independently verified.

Ezeakolam said he was arraigned on April 27, 2026, before a Chief Magistrate’s Court in Wuse Zone 6, Abuja, after spending what he described as 21 days in SSS custody.

According to his account, he faced a one-count charge of allegedly inciting the public and spreading hatred against the Federal Government, the SSS director-general and President Bola Tinubu on the association’s WhatsApp platform.

He pleaded not guilty.

He said the court granted him bail of N200,000, with two civil servants on Grade Level 10 as sureties, but he remained in custody at Keffi prison until the bail conditions were fulfilled.

He further alleged that some of his personal belongings, including prescription glasses, two mobile phones and copies of intelligence reports, were missing when he returned to the SSS headquarters on April 29 to retrieve them.

The details of the magistrate’s court proceedings were reported by SaharaReporters based on his account.

The retired officer’s legal troubles continued when the SSS arraigned him before the Federal High Court in Abuja on August 6 on four counts bordering on alleged IPOB membership, providing support to the proscribed organisation and using social media to advance its activities.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The court ordered that he be remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre pending his bail application and fixed October 29 for the commencement of his trial.

Available information does not establish whether the federal prosecution is connected to the association’s petition or whether either case prompted his subsequent apology.

It also remains unclear whether Ezeakolam has withdrawn his substantive allegations concerning the welfare funds or his alleged treatment in detention. His apology focused on his decision to publicise an internal matter.

In a separate letter dated October 16, Ezeakolam’s lawyer, Edmund Ben, principal partner of Lawminds Associates, demanded that SaharaReporters publish his client’s response to its report and retract any inaccurate or unsubstantiated claims.

The lawyer accused the publication of denigrating the offices 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 stated.

However, the SaharaReporters report concerning Ezeakolam’s allegations was published on July 29, 2026, rather than June 29, as stated in the lawyer’s letter.

Ben gave the outlet seven days from receipt of the letter to publish his client’s official response and correct or retract statements considered factually inaccurate, misleading or unsupported by evidence.

He warned that his client reserved the right to pursue legal remedies if the publication failed to respond appropriately.

The letter did not establish that a lawsuit had been filed or identify the specific allegations Ezeakolam disputes.

SaharaReporters had not publicly responded to the legal threat as of the time of the report.