DSS invites, grills statistician-general as presidency hails CESPS report

A competent source has confirmed that the Statistician-General of the Federation, Mr Adeniran Adeyemi, was invited for questioning by the Department of State Services (DSS) following the release of a controversial survey report on ransom payments in Nigeria.

He was subsequently released by the secret police.

The source revealed that the DSS is checking the methodology and data used in the report, which claimed that ransom payments had reached alarming levels, triggering widespread concerns.

According to the source, who wishes to remain anonymous, “He was invited, but he was only asked a few questions and allowed to go immediately.”

The secret police had announced that it had gone opaque.

Meanwhile, a State House statement signed by Special Adviser to the President, Policy Communications, Barr. Daniel Bwala, praised the Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey (CESPS), recently released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), describing it as a novel concept that seeks to ensure that information rolled out to the public is data-driven, not based on conjectures or mere assumptions.

The statement said that with its administration’s goal of running an all-inclusive, data-driven socio-economic agenda, the Tinubu administration, through the NBS, has debuted a concept tailored toward reporting issues within the polity that is data-backed.

It said the CESPS data on crime situations in the six geopolitical zones are based on surveys conducted across the geopolitical zones in the country.

According to the report, the Northwest reported the highest incidences of crime with a record 14,402,254 cases, followed by the Northcentral with 8,771,400, the Northeast with 7.9 million cases, the South-South with 7.7 million, and the Southwest with 6.9 million, while the Southeast reported the least, with 6.2 million.

Bwala said, “It is instructive to state without equivocation that the report released by the NBS is a pointer to the several efforts of the current administration in addressing the security challenges ubiquitous in the country.

“Unlike what obtained in the preceding year 2023, where crime incidences were pronounced high and at a crescendo, the 2024 report largely revealed the synergy between all relevant security architectures of the country, including military and paramilitary agencies, not forgetting private sector collaborations fostered by the Renewed Hope administration of Mr. President.”
He said that the country has witnessed a drastic decline in cases of incessant kidnapping in the South, armed banditry, and cattle rustling in the North, especially the Northwest.

“The activities of the proscribed group from the South-East, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), and its affiliate – the Eastern Security Network, otherwise known as ‘Unknown Gunmen,’ have largely reduced, and more importantly, the recent arrest of the Finland-based agent provocateur, Simon Ekpa, who had hitherto instigated endless onslaughts on people from the Southeast,” he said.

“On the Northern flank, Nigerians have seen fewer school attacks in the outgoing year, contrary to what was obtainable in recent years. This, no doubt, further lends credence to the fight against crime by the current administration.”

There were speculations that the invitation of the Statistician-General by the DSS was because the government was not comfortable with the CESPS report, which said Nigerians paid N2.23 trillion as ransom between May 2023 and April 2024.

Media reports had said that Adeyemi was invited by the DSS to explain the methodology and data used in arriving at the report.

This speculation was heightened when, 24 hours after the release of the report, NBS raised the alarm that its website had been compromised.