INTERVIEW: How we are reforming the SSS – DG, Oluwatosin Ajayi

In this rare interview, the Director General of the State Security Service, Oluwatosin Ajayi, speaks on the agency’s institutional reforms, international cooperation and the fight against terrorism and other crimes.

EXCERPT:

PT: Thank you for finally honouring our request for an interview after several failed attempts.

DG SSS: You are welcome. I changed my mind to encourage the improved relationship between the media and security agencies in Nigeria. Moreso, it is not unusual with intelligence organisations globally to do this when the need arises. Our counterpart, the current Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), held a televised briefing on 16th September 2025, in which he spoke about the Agency’s fight against criminal cartels, terrorism, and drug traffickers. Traditionally, the MI6 Chief also makes annual public speech aimed at building public trust and explaining threats.

PT: Your Service is 40 years now. That’s a huge milestone. We expected some fanfare, but you seem to be celebrating quietly. Can you walk us through your experience over the past decades? What has it been like and what has happened so far?

DG SSS: Intelligence organisations are not disposed to public fanfare; we hold most of our celebrations internally. Moreso, the mood of the nation does not warrant that now. The background is that I grew up in the Service. I started as a Cadet Officer, rose through the ranks, and, by God’s grace, I am here. So, I have been part of the system. I therefore acknowledge our challenges and problems. I also know the strengths and weaknesses of the system. Thus, what I have done over the last two years is not different from what I did at every level of leadership I held before now.

In summary, I am building on past managements’ successes, improving on our weaknesses, and developing our strengths. One result I think you can see is, firstly, strict law enforcement, which is one of the things that helps every society. The convictions of terror suspects and other criminal elements so far prove this. Secondly, and quite importantly, is the improvement of cooperation between sister agencies and our foreign allies. I’m sure you’ve also noticed that. And then improving the Service’s respect for Human Rights. Where we commit unavoidable errors, we proactively compensate victims without waiting for litigation. And in cases where the Court has issued an order, we ensure the compensation meets the highest standards of adequacy. For instance, in a N10 million compensation judgment, the person we mistakenly shot deserved more, so we added N10 million to it. We also provided him with fully covered medical treatment. And of course, we are also purging ourselves. We maintain a zero-tolerance policy towards unethical conduct. Such staff are not accommodated in our Service. We enforce a strict disciplinary process and keep the public duly informed. The idea is to be proactive in addressing misconduct, to ensure that ex-staff do not go on to commit crimes in our name. That’s a summary of what I have concentrated on in the past 2 years.

PT: Let me ask about some specific reforms?

DG SSS: The reforms fall into the five broad categories that I mentioned: law enforcement, synergy, accountability in what we do as a Service, respect for Human Rights, and infrastructural/administrative reforms to enhance operational efficiency.

PT: Before you came in as DG, the DSS was known for arbitrary arrests and extrajudicial treatment of suspects. Can you speak to the specific actions you took that led to the improvements we are seeing now?

DG SSS: We visibly separated civil matters from criminal matters. My experience through my career path showed that we conflated the two aspects. For instance, I must thank you in the media for the three awards I received from IPI, NUJ, and BON. You cannot apply the use of force in civil matters. Even some criminal matters don’t require force. Take, for example, the attempt to establish a shadow government, i.e., the Service versus Pat Utomi. Rather than arrest him, we sought judicial interpretation. And the Court ruled that his adventure was unconstitutional, illegal, and a threat to national security. So it was with SERAP, which wrongly accused two (2) DSS operatives of invading their premises. They approached the court, on my approval. Throughout the process, nobody was arrested, and the court awarded over N100 million in their favour. The case with the owner of Sahara Reporters, Sowore, is the same. Even from day one, when he went to court, the court asked whether we objected to his bail, and we said no because we hadn’t arrested him in the first place. He was granted bail on self-recognition. Whatever later transpired that he violated the court process is unrelated to the Service, and then the court revoked it, but eventually granted him bail with conditions.

PT: So, you now go to court for civil matters?

DG SSS: Yes. I have told my people that there should be no arrest in any civil case. And I’m sure you have found out that, even in cases involving journalists, we would rather approach the court because we do the same job. I call you guys our professional colleagues. The only difference is that, while you inform the public, we inform the Government. And because we inform the Government, our information is classified until we declassify it.

PT: Journalists will disagree when you call them your professional colleagues because, before you came, your agency was known for serial violation of press freedom.

DG SSS: You can attest to the fact that not a single journalist has been victimised under my watch. When any misgivings arose and I became aware of them, we responded immediately and offered an apology. Like the case of a journalist in Plateau State, I apologised for our staff’s error, and the NUJ President confirmed it. It was one of the reasons they cited for awarding me as NUJ MAN OF THE YEAR, 2026. If, for any reason, we need to question a journalist, we go through the IPI, the NUJ, or any other relevant body.

PT: What suddenly changed in the relationship between this Agency and the media? It was very frosty in the past, and in fact, your agency was known for being the biggest violator of press freedom, journalist safety, and independent journalism. So, what changed suddenly?

DG SSS: What changed is that I believe civil matters do not require the use of force. We also have a responsibility to protect journalists’ rights so they can do their job. Having been in the system, I have seen many things we could have handled better, and I am bringing those lessons to bear.

Journalists do similar work to what we do. In some cases, we even rely on them for information, so it makes no sense to use force against them. We can simply call the NUJ President, the IPI, or another relevant body, if there is an infraction, because they are known people, not criminals, terrorists, or people hiding in the forest. That is why I decided we must protect journalists and allow them to do their work. Our energy is focused on terrorists and other criminals, not on fighting our partners. Differences can be resolved through dialogue or judicial interpretation.

PT: People are wondering how an agency that was once seen as hostile to the media now enjoys a robust relationship with it, to the point where you are receiving several honours from media organisations.

DG SSS: As I said earlier, what has changed is our respect for people’s right to do their jobs without hindrance. Our responsibility is to protect those rights. If a journalist publishes an inaccurate report about the Service, my first step is to request a correction, not to make an arrest. We’ve done this on several occasions. For instance, when some media organisations reported that the DSS invaded the Lagos State House of Assembly, we demanded a retraction of the story within seven days. When they all complied, we took no further action because that’s the proper civil approach.

READ ALSO: DOWNLOAD: SSS operatives’ N100 million defamation judgement against SERAP

The same happened with the report from the Order Paper, which alleged that the DSS was involved in moves to impeach the Senate President. We clarified the facts and requested a retraction. Where there is a refusal, we seek redress through the Courts, not arrests. That is the same approach we adopted in cases involving SERAP and Sahara Reporters.

PT: So, where are you on SERAP? Is there no way to resolve the matter out of court?

DG SSS: We are very open to conversations if they apologise. We didn’t invade SERAP, and the Court has ruled in favour of the two operatives who sued for defamation. They chose to appeal the ruling, and we respect their right to do so.

Let me stress something on this. You see, if I, as the leader of this organisation, can tell my staff across the States to apologise when wrong, that must mean something. It is a sign of courage to admit errors, as we are doing, and to pay compensation when a mistake is made without waiting for the court to order us. So when you wrong us, should you grandstand instead of apologising, and turn it into a pity party or false claims of harassment?

PT: Let’s talk about your agency’s past reputation for arbitrary arrests and prolonged detention, then releasing those found innocent without any justice or redress. But lately you’ve been paying compensation in several cases. What informed this change in approach?

DG SSS: The simple reason is, you cannot do injury to someone, go on to admit that it was a mistake and then refuse to seek restitution. Even before God, there is room for restitution. Sometimes it is to heal the trauma, to provide the resources to help reintegrate, after we’ve disrupted a life. Most of the time, we follow up to see how to get the victim back in business. You see, what people hear is the initial compensation, like the Jos businessman; we actually went further by setting up a business for him, and he is now an employer of others.

PT: What happened to the Jos man really?

DG SSS: He was mistakenly shot, and in 2016, there was a court judgment for the Service to pay compensation of Ten million Naira.

PT: In 2016?

DG SSS: Yes, it happened in 2016. A court ordered the Service to pay him ₦10 million in compensation, but that wasn’t done. I take responsibility and won’t justify what happened then.

However, on assuming office as DG, I ordered a review of such cases because I believed we had to correct our past mistakes. As the Yoruba say, “when you wake up, that’s your morning.” It’s never too late to do the right thing. When I was appointed, the President’s only charge to me was that he expected me to do things differently, respect people’s rights, and uphold the reputation I had built. That guided my decision. Our review showed that, in some cases, we were clearly wrong.

Compensation for operational mistakes is not uncommon. Countries such as the UK have done the same in similar circumstances. After our medical team assessed his condition and found that his leg had deteriorated significantly, we offered him treatment in our hospital and eventually approved an additional ₦10 million to help him rebuild his livelihood. For me, it was about justice, accountability, and strengthening public confidence in the Service.

PT: You call this restorative justice, and we learned that your agency has so far paid about 300 million Naira in compensation. You’ve talked about the Jos man, so what are the other cases?

DG SSS: There are several others. In one case, an Abuja-based businesswoman was mistakenly arrested during an operation targeting suspected oil bunkerers. She was simply there to deliver goods. Once the investigation confirmed she was innocent, she was paid an initial ₦10 million in compensation, and I directed my officers to support her in rebuilding her business.

There was also the case of the Ifedi couple arrested before I became DG and detained in Wawa. It was later established that they were not terrorists. The woman’s only link was that IPOB members patronised her restaurant, and that was clearly not enough to label her a member. I ordered their release, compensated the professor, and we are discussing how to preserve his late wife’s memory by acquiring the restaurant’s premises and rebuilding it in her honour. Those are just a few examples. There are many other cases across the country in which people who were wrongfully detained have been released and compensated.

One case that received little media attention involved an operation in Cross River State. Our operatives were pursuing a notorious kidnapper who fled into a student area. During the operation, four female students had their phones damaged. When I was briefed, I directed that their phones be replaced immediately. The students insisted they only wanted the repair of the damaged devices, which spoke to their integrity. I also approved scholarships to support their education. For me, that’s the right way to respond when innocent people are affected during legitimate operations.

PT: Was this in addition to their telephones?

DG SSS: Yes. My three (3) children were in universities at some times in their lives, and I only imagined how they’d feel seeing people with guns destroying their phones. I know the trauma and decided to do something to ease it. I could list a lot more, but the amount is certainly higher than N300 million. Some don’t get to the press at all.

PT: What is the philosophy behind this restorative justice within an Intelligence agency?

DG SSS: The philosophy is that the Intelligence Community leverages humans as its greatest asset, not only technology. For Intelligence, you need the people. An Intelligence Service that is completely alienated from the people by its conduct might not get the credible information it needs. Much as our activities are not open, we do a lot to endear ourselves to the people. We try to conceal these activities, but some of them still leak. For instance, our humanitarian outreach across the LGAs targeting the indigent in these areas was not made public. Somehow, one Chairman put it out: “Look at what the DSS did for our people. We have offices across all 774 Local Governments and 37 states Commands. When people are hurting or aggrieved, even if they have information, they might not volunteer it, though they will be harming themselves unknowingly. And that’s why we correct any injustice against people.

PT: Following what you have just said, I am curious: is there a link between that and your recent recruitment drive targeting orphanages? How did that come about, because there were reports that you were hiring people from Orphanage homes.

DG SSS: It’s part of our philosophy that people are our greatest intelligence asset. Human intelligence is more valuable than any technology because people can provide context, answer questions, and be engaged repeatedly in ways machines cannot. That’s why I believe in treating people fairly and correcting injustices. When people trust you, they are more willing to work with you. In security, we summarise it this way: one of the most effective counterterrorism measures is “reducing areas of discontent”.

PT: So, are you saying those in orphanage homes are discontented, or is it because you see them as valuable human assets?

DG SSS: No. First and foremost, they are part of our society that can be easily forgotten if care isn’t taken, making them vulnerable. And then, as you rightly said, despite that, they can be very useful, but you can still forget. The ones we’ve had to recruit in the past have done very well for us. I have been doing this before I became DG in every State where I served as State Director. But I remember one of those I recruited; she remained in the orphanage and helped to groom and reorient others to become better citizens. So, they form part of human assets, but if there is no deliberate action to seek them out, they could easily be forgotten. Interestingly, from experience, some of our best brains are from there. It’s what I have done, and now doing at the National level. Again, I don’t know how that got out because I like to do it quietly, as I did for 14 years as State Director across 5 States.

PT: So, these people are graduates?

DG SSS: Graduates are recruited into the officer’s cadre, and others are recruited into our junior cadre with a First School Leaving Certificate. Afterwards, they train in the Service.

PT: You’ve been talking about Intelligence. Some people see your Agency as simply providing intelligence that makes government happy. What will you say to that?

DG SSS: Some people even say we only act after crimes are committed, but much of our intelligence work is classified, so the public never sees it. Our job is to provide Intelligence to the government and sister agencies, including advice on the security implications of policies. Our job is not to tell Government what it wants to hear. The Intelligence helps prevent attacks, rescue victims, identify perpetrators, and make arrests. While many of those successes cannot be disclosed, recent cases, including suspects arrested for planned terrorist attacks, show that preventive intelligence is at work.

PT: That was what I wanted to ask: if you gather all this intelligence, how come the Government does not do enough to stop these attacks from happening?

DG SSS: I want to anchor on the fact that we recognise that attacks are still happening, which tends to diminish our efforts. For instance, somebody whose child was kidnapped doesn’t care if you prevented 200 attacks. For that person, you haven’t achieved. On that basis, I acknowledge that we need to do more. The President keeps urging the protection of Nigerian lives; he doesn’t forget to caution that “Nigerians are in a hurry to celebrate peace.” That’s what is important, and we have to do more.

But talking specifically about sharing intelligence, what happened to the attacks that were carried out? I’ll first draw your attention to the fact that, all over the world, no one can completely root out crimes one hundred per cent. But we owe it to this generation and those unborn to reduce crimes to the barest minimum.

If we go by those who even started the intelligence business before us, here we are talking of 40 years, you can imagine the global threat levels and how even the most powerful nations on earth are currently grappling with various forms of internal insurgencies, heightened violent crimes, among others. Thus, intelligence worldwide can’t be perfect. I won’t tell you it’s 100%. Secondly, where we get a good percentage of it, there are issues such as capability, terrain, and the need for strategic decision-making. Hence, the presidential actions on State Police, forest guards, are strategic solutions to enable vulnerable communities to defend themselves.

Imagine our closeness to the Sahel and the difficult terrain around Lake Chad. Imagine the Niger Delta militancy and the challenge of navigating the creeks by regular forces. We have such peculiar problems that require strategic solutions. Take the example of a State with a difficult terrain with its own Police; they know how to deploy. The Federal authority cannot do it alone.

PT: Just a follow-up: will you say that those factors you’ve listed contribute to the inability to provide a swift response? I think that whenever these attacks are recorded, and security steps in, we are able to fight back against the terrorists. But people complain that the response isn’t swift enough. For instance, the Oriire attack in Oyo and the fact that the victims were held for weeks before eventually being rescued, the complaints are that the response wasn’t swift enough. Nigerians want swift responses. Are the above reasons why that has not been achieved?

DG SSS: What I’d tell you is that immediately the incident happened, based on credible intelligence, troops chased them immediately, and sadly, a vigilante and a policeman were killed. During the second raid, more were killed, making a total of nine (9) fatalities, four (4) civilians and five (5) security personnel. It was a complex operation involving a two-and-a-half-year-old infant who could not run much if we invaded the place.

As expected, the rescue operation attracted a lot of social media disinformation. You have to sieve the information there. I give you an example: while that incident lasted, they were posting deepfake videos of children beaten with lacerations on their bodies. They were actually footage from a particular country on witchcraft-related incidents passed off as real-time crude events here. Recall the victims recounted how well-treated they were by the criminals. So, one of the things I’d like you to do in the media is fact-finding and separating facts from fiction. Some patriotic Nigerians understood that a soldier was killed, and other lives were lost during the rescue operation, and they empathised, having learnt about the nature of the kidnap group- an international terrorist group with links to Al-Qaeda.

Citizens ought to know that the incarcerated leaders of the kidnap group who were requested in exchange for the victims were arrested last year by the Service; their arrest helped to prevent high-profile attacks. These are people found complicit in the Abuja/Kaduna train attack and were planning more kidnappings of foreigners, students, women and their children on a large scale. They wanted to demand state recognition and freedom to practice their religion somewhere, hence the arrest of their leaders. That proved proactiveness. The kingpins are the ones now sentenced to life imprisonment. The three other collaborators earned life imprisonment, and the Service will push for a stiffer penalty.

PT: How will you assess the working relationship between your agency and other sister agencies in Nigeria and with foreign intelligence partners? Where are the gaps, and where is cooperation strongest?

DG SSS: Locally, our information/intel sharing is great. Over the decades, we have collaborated with our allies in the US, the UK, France, and many other European countries. After we share our intelligence, we determine where we want joint boots on the ground. Don’t forget that, sometimes around 2000, US soldiers came to join us to deal with some threats. So, it’s very useful. One of our strengths is that we are very open with ourselves and get support when we need it. We also support our partners. So, it’s the openness and frankness that are our greatest strengths. Can it be better? Yes. We will achieve many more feats with the liaison we now share.

Our citizens often misunderstand it, and we must keep educating them.

PT: There is another side to my question, especially about inter-agency rivalry. So how are you navigating that?

DG SSS: For me, that has to do with leadership. Anytime you see it happen, it is because a leader encourages it. My operatives know I encourage collaboration and joint operations. I must commend the leadership of all the agencies; we have an excellent working relationship. In fact, it was demonstrated in Oriire, Oyo State. No single agency could claim supreme credit for it. It was jointly achieved, and you saw the GOC when he was giving his brief. He called out every other agency that participated- DSS, Navy, Air Force, Police, NSCDC, vigilante, everybody. When you see rivalry thrive, the leaders encourage that. This crop of leaders, no!

PT: You made a comment earlier about sentencing and obviously about the recent case that the Ansaru leaders were given life imprisonment, and that you are pushing for a death sentence. I think we’ve also had a few other capital sentences for terrorists in Owo, but I think the problem with capital sentencing is in the carrying out of the executions. We’ve not had one in close to 20 years. So, is there an effort to get Mr President to sign the execution of these death sentences?

DG SSS: A nation evolves with its realities. Years ago, when we did not face this level of violence and terrorism, hesitation over signing death warrants may have reflected a different context. Today, with terrorists attacking innocent people in public, the reality has changed. I doubt any responsible authority faced with that level of brutality would refuse to sign.

PT: Okay, so you’ve been getting a lot of convictions. Some life sentences and some death sentences. What are you doing differently to achieve that?

DG SSS: Diligent prosecution. It is not enough to allege that someone committed a crime; you must prove it. We are strengthening our investigations, evidence gathering, and understanding of offences because justice depends on the facts presented before the court. Even a strong case can fail without convincing facts.