DSS frees man wrongfully detained for IPOB links, awards ₦5m compensation

The Director General of the State Security Services (DSS), Oluwatosin Adeola Ajayi, has ordered the release of Kenneth Okechukwu Nwafor, who was arrested in July 2022 over alleged links to the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

The DSS also awarded Nwafor ₦5 million as compensation for his wrongful arrest.

Nwafor, from Isuikwuato Local Government Area of Abia State, is the latest beneficiary of the DG’s directive to review all inherited cases to ensure due process and timely justice.

According to a statement by the service, the ongoing review has led to the discharge of several individuals previously held on suspicion of IPOB involvement.

“The DG directed his investigation officers to conduct a detailed review of all pending cases, and they have been diligently doing so. Nwafor’s case is one of them,” the statement said.

It added that three other Abia men—identified as Udemba, Onyedikachi, and Eze—were also released after being cleared of similar allegations.

The DSS said the gesture reflects the DG’s commitment to upholding the rule of law and the agency’s standard operating procedures.

The service noted that Nwafor is not the first Igbo individual to receive compensation under the new leadership.

Earlier, the DG approved the release of three young men previously detained on IPOB-related accusations.

Last month, he also paid ₦10 million in compensation to an Abuja-based businesswoman wrongfully arrested by another security agency over alleged illegal oil bunkering, along with an additional ₦10 million shared among five others.

The DSS said these actions underline an emerging pattern of accountability and justice since the assumption of the new leadership.