DSS Denies Siege On Premium Times

The Department of State Services (DSS) has denied laying siege to the office of Premium Times Newspapers.

A statement issued on Sunday by the Spokesman of the DSS, Peter Afunnaya, also denied hacking the phones of a staff of the paper.

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Reports had surfaced online on Saturday, alleging that the secret police had received orders to arrest Samuel Ogundipe, a journalist with Premium Times for writing an exclusive report which exposed a rift between the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno and Abba Kyari, the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari.

Ogundipe’s report detailed how Monguno accused Kyari of undue interference on matters bordering on national security and subsequently fired a warning memo to all service chiefs to desist from taking further directives from Kyari.

In the letter first made public by Premium Times, Monguno said Kyari’s directives to service chiefs were sometimes issued without the knowledge, much less approval of the president, a practice he said had added to the government’s inability to contain insecurity.

“My email account was hacked yesterday. I have been told that they are looking for me to get the source who leaked the letter to me”, Ogundipe was quoted to have said.

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But according to the statement by DSS, such report is entirely false as it is unfounded and just a “needless sensationalism.”

The statement reads: “There is no such operation at the moment by the Service targeted at the Premium Times, its editor or staff. If there is any need for the DSS to discharge its duty, it sure has to do that with every sense of decency and in accordance with laid down procedures. Now the Service is not anywhere near the news agency. Therefore, the report should be disregarded.”

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