TheCable

The Department of State Services (DSS) says the author of an article claiming that suspects arrested over the murder of David Imoh were switched with southerners, is an “impostor”.

On May 12, Imoh, a sound engineer, was beaten and set ablaze by a mob suspected to be commercial motorcyclists near Beer Barn, a leisure facility in the Lekki axis of Lagos.

The police had subsequently arrested four suspects over the lynching of the sound engineer.

Over the past days, an article purportedly written by one Adio Oluwole Bashir, who identified himself as a DSS official, went viral on social media, especially on WhatsApp.

The writer alleged that he was the team leader of the security operatives who arrested 11 suspects, said to be mostly northerners, in connection with Imoh’s murder.

According to the writer, after the 11 suspects were handed over to the police, they were allegedly replaced with six suspects, who are southerners.

The writer also claimed that the suspects paraded by the Lagos police were given N100,000 each to confess to the murder.

Reacting in a statement on Monday, Peter Afunanya, DSS spokesman, described the publication as false, and said Bashir is neither a serving nor retired staff member of the agency.

“Besides, his writing style and use of paraphernalia gave him out as fake and an impostor. Findings have, however, revealed that his aim is to ignite an ethno-religious conflict. His co-conspirators are elements of separatist groups who are desirous of achieving the same objective as well as pitting security agencies against one another,” the statement reads.

“Dragging the DSS which never participated in the operation at Lekki into his skewed account exposes the lies and intentions of Adio Oluwole Bashir and his cohorts.

“The DSS wishes to state that the write-up is completely false and frowns at the calculated effort to use its name for malicious purposes. It therefore requests the public to disregard the misleading narrative.

“The Service also warns those bent on throwing the country into violence to retrace their steps and give peace a chance. While it reaffirms its commitment to continue to work with sister agencies to ensure lasting peace in the country, it will also not hesitate to bring to book those determined to break the law.”