New information regarding the removal of DSS agents by the state command of the agency became available on Sunday, 18 December 2022. The agents had been sent to work with Senator Ademola Adeleke, the governor of Osun State.
On Saturday, the group Osun Shall Rise Again released a statement in which their secretary and chairman, Saheed Bakare and Lanre Akeju, raised the subject of the DSS agents’ departure.
However, OSRA claimed that Adeleke’s “unguarded utterances” to the agents caused the Osun Command to remove them.
However, our correspondent’s investigation found that a fight broke out last Thursday between the DSS team and the police squad that had been sent to assist Adeleke.
A trusted security source, who preferred not to be named, said, “The DSS headquarters in Abuja had posted an officer to work with Adeleke and assigned to him the role of Chief Security Officer.
A few weeks after the DSS agents started working again, it was also learned that the force headquarters in Abuja placed a police officer and also gave him the responsibility of Chief Security Officer. It was said that the development led to friction between the two security agencies.
Additionally, it was discovered that the situation reached a breaking point on Thursday when the leader of the police squad invited his State Criminal Investigation Bureau colleagues to a security post that was supposed to be maintained by DSS agents at Adeleke’s office.
The Osun State Command of the Service was alleged to have quickly ordered its agents to report back to the office when the matter was reported, though it was unclear how Adeleke reacted to the reported altercation that broke out between the two groups over the issue.
Olawale Rasheed, the governor’s spokesperson, acknowledged the conflict between DSS and police agents collaborating with the governor in a statement on Sunday.
He said, “The attention of the Osun State Government has been drawn to a report on the alleged withdrawal of security personnel from Governor Ademola Adeleke.
“We want to make it clear that this is a minor disagreement between officers from the Department of State Service and the Police.
“The matter has been reported to the headquarters of the two security agencies for resolution. The issue is being sorted out.”
“We reassure members of the public that there is no cause for alarm. Your Governor is fully secured, and governance is proceeding without let or hindrance.”
