A United Kingdom-based Nigerian journalist, Jafar Jafar, has accused the immediate-past director-general of the Department State Services (DSS), Yusuf Magaji Bichi, of turning the elite security service into ‘a graveyard of career aspirations, an orchard of nepotism and an armed corps of 40 Blantyre Crescent’.
LEADERSHIP reports that No. 40, Blantyre Street is known as the address of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) headquarters in Wuse II District of Abuja.
Jafar, who’s the publisher of the Nigeria-based Daily Nigerian online newspaper, specifically accused Bichi of lowering the recruitment bar at the DSS by removing multi-layer screening process to recruit personnel who couldn’t even pass a private security company’s aptitude test.
In a lengthy post on his X handle (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday, he also alleged that Bichi’s wife was unduly dabbling in the affairs of the secret police organisation to the extent of influencing recruitment, promotion and discipline of its personnel. The journalist, who incidentally hails from Kano State like the former DSS boss, therefore, called on the newly appointed director-general, Adeola Ajayi, to review some of Bichi’s actions and reset the SSS.
Jafar said: “The former DG of SSS, Yusuf Magaji Bichi, has turned an otherwise elite, professionally-run service into a graveyard of career aspirations, an orchard of nepotism and an armed corps of 40 Blantyre Crescent. He lowered the recruitment bar, removed multi-layer screening process to recruit personnel who couldn’t even pass Halogen Security aptitude test.
“Bichi arguably recruited the highest number of Cotonou “graduates” into the service. He willfully extended the tenure of some retired directors in his good book for years, killing the ambitions of the aspiring directors.
“He allowed his wife to lord over the service, influencing recruitment, promotion and discipline. As a peasant socialite and novo riche, she always oppressed people with a superfluity of everything at the expense of public funds. She moved around in a long motorcade with dozens of Tavor-wielding personnel, harassing motorists. She was a stormy petrel who was majorly in the news for either assaulting her tailor for failing to meet a deadline or picking a fight with opposition politicians.
“His impudent, spoiled brat son shrugged off public criticism to gleefully display a fleet of luxury cars on social media. At the expense of public funds, he has a number SSS operatives giving him cover at football arena, nightclub and political campaign rallies.
“The new DG should review the cases of detainees, be professional in the discharge of his duty and keep his family away from meddling in the affairs of the service. The service does not only need a factory reset but flushing!”
LEADERSHIP recalls that President Bola Tinubu had on Monday appointed Ajayi as a replacement for Bichi following what the Presidency called ‘resignation’ by the latter.