The inter agency rivalry between the Department of State
Services and the Nigerian Army came to head, yesterday, as the Aide de Camp to
the President, Lt. Col Abubakar Lawal ordered personnel of the DSS out of the
villa.
The incidence which happened at the residence of the
President at the Presidential Villa was extended to all other points that had
been manned by the personnel of the DSS.
But the Special Adviser to the President on Media and
Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, said what happened was a realignment of security around
the President which entailed that members of the armed forces would man the
inner perimeter of the President security while operatives of the DSS would man
the outer perimeter.
It will be recalled that since assuming office as the
President, there has been an intense rivalry between DSS personnel and the army
over who is to provide close body security to the president.
Some members of the armed forces were drafted from the
Infantry Corps to the villa after the inauguration of President Buhari to man all
the strategic points at the villa, a move that was resisted by the DSS
personnel who had constitutionally provided close body protection to the
President.
The issue, however, came to a head yesterday evening when
the ADC to the president ordered members of the DSS at the Presidential Villa
to hand over to men of the Nigerian Army.
The directive, however, almost caused an altercation between
the army and men of the DSS whose chain of command is different.
It took the intervention of the Chief Security Officer who
directed his men to “stand down,” a euphemism for complying with the directive
of the ADC.
According to a soldier who was present at the incidence,
“the ADC directed that they should hand over to us and leave the villa. We have
now taken over fully as directed by the ADC and we are in charge.”
Already, military personnel have taken over all the
strategic points at the villa with a firm instruction that no DSS personnel
should be allowed into the villa.
This is the first time that the DSS which has the
professional capability and capacity would be striped of its constitutional
responsibility of providing close bodyguard protection to the President and his
immediate family.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity,
Mr Adesina said the action was part of a realignment of the security
apparatus around the President.
