DSS Speaks On Arrest Of Yahaya Bello’s Aide

The Department of State Services (DSS) on Wednesday said it did not arrest Edward Onoja, an aide to Kogi StateGovernor Yahaya Bello.

News reports that the DSS said reports that Onoja was picked up by the agency over a planned attack on a former Chief of Naval Staff, Vice-Admiral Jibrin Usman,  by suspected ex-Niger Delta militants were untrue.

The ex-militants were said to have implicated Onoja in the plot, following which he was detained on Friday.

Usman, who served under former President Goodluck Jonathan, is a major contender for the governorship ticket of the All Progressives Congress in Kogi, ahead of the  November  16  election.

The DSS in a statement by its Public Relations Officer, P.N. Afunaya, titled, ‘Edward Onoja not arrested by the DSS,’ says the reports of the arrest were fake and should be disregarded.

“The service recognises that the media is a strategic partner in nation-building and hopes that cordiality and mutual respectability are maintained in the relationship between them.

“In this vein, it wishes to advise that stories are verified or authenticated before their publication.

“The service warns that persons or organisations that falsely use its name will be liable to prosecution.”