DSS Parades Three Over Alleged Attempt To Blackmail Agency’s DG

FOR the trio of Usman Danmallam, Nura Giwa and Hussaini Monguno, what might have been a private telephone conversation exchanged amongst friends has kept them in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) for more than a week and may ultimately lead them to jail if prosecuted and found guilty.

The trio, according to a representative of the security agency who spoke to the media yesterday in Abuja, had “perfected plans to blackmail the Director General of the DSS, Lawal Daura that he collected N4 billion from the Governors of Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Abia and Taraba states in order to influence the Supreme Court judgment in their favour.

“They were also to misinform the President and in fact, the Nigerian public that the DG had acquired choice properties in Maitama and Asokoro areas of Abuja. The overall objective was to scare the DG and put him under pressure just for the group to extort money from him to serve their pecuniary interest.”

The DSS representative who briefed the press, Abdullahi Garba, had refused to disclose his name until journalists threatened not to report matter, said two of the suspects were arrested on February 17, 2016 at Unguwar Sarki in Kaduna State, while Monguno was picked in Abuja.