File photo
In a statement issued by the Spokesperson of the Department of
State Services (DSS), Tony Opuiyo in Abuja on Monday, the nation’s
secret police denied the rumours making the round that a huge sum of
money and weapons were found in the house of its sacked Director
General, Lawal Daura.
The agency said that the rumours emanated from some fake videos
which it said were circulated as being the outcome of a search allegedly
carried out in the home of Daura, adding that there was no iota of
truth in the allegation that N21bn and unspecified number of Permanent
Voters Card were found in Daura’s houses.
The spokesman for the agency, Opuiyo, described the videos as fake,
which gave an impression that the search was conducted at the residence
of the former DG in both Abuja and Daura, Katsina State, adding that
there was no search carried out in the home of Daura by any security
agency.
Opuiyo said, “The attention of the Department of State Services
has been drawn to the circulation of fake information and videos in
which several items were said to have been recovered from the Katsina
and Abuja homes of its immediate past Director General, Lawal Daura.
“These non-existent items include:N21bn cash, 400 assorted and
sophisticated small arms and light weapons/rifles, and thousands of
Permanent Voters Card belonging to Niger Republic immigrants.
“In another video also in circulation, some persons believed to
be personnel of a security outfit were seen forcing open safes stocked
with money. The security operatives were described as executing a
recovery operation at the Katsina home of the former DGSS.
“Consequently, the Service wishes to inform the public that
these videos are false and should be disregarded. So far, no such
recovery operations have been undertaken by the EFCC or any other
security agency at DSS’ office or residences of the former DG.
“There is no doubt that different interests have continued to
give varied accounts of the incident of last week at the National
Assembly.
“It may, however, be recalled that the Presidency had pledged
to carry out a detailed investigation regarding the alleged National
Assembly siege.”
Opuiyo asked members of the public to exercise restraint in their
narration of events and as such, desist from spreading fake news or
engaging in activities that he said might mislead or further cause a
breach of the peace as well as preempt the outcome of investigations.