As part of its commitment to justice and compassion, the Department of State Services (DSS) has invited a Sokoto-based businessman mistakenly shot during a 2016 operation—to its hospital in Abuja for free medical care.
This move follows the directive of DSS Director-General, Mr. Tosin Ajayi, who in March approved the payment of ₦10 million in court-awarded damages to the victim.
In a further gesture of goodwill, the DG added another ₦10 million in compensation, raising the total to ₦20 million.
Ajayi also instructed that the businessman be formally enrolled in the DSS medical system, granting him unrestricted access to comprehensive healthcare services at no cost.
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According to The Nation the businessman arrived at the hospital a few days ago and has been undergoing free medical tests and treatment from the hospital’s best doctors.
A source in the agency said: “True to the DG’s directive, the man has been in the VIP ward which, of course, is fully air-conditioned. They have been running a series of checks and giving him round-the-clock medical attention, in order to make him regain full control of his limbs. I even understand the DG asked that he be fed for free.”
In 2016, during a pre-dawn operation to arrest a suspected gunrunner in Jos, Plateau State, DSS operatives mistakenly shot and injured the businessman who incidentally bears the same name with the suspected gunrunner. The gunrunner was eventually arrested.
Two years after the shooting, in 2018, the businessman, through his lawyer, Idris Akibu, approached a Federal High Court in Bauchi. Delivering judgement on the matter with suit number FHC/J/CS/18/2018, the court, presided by Justice Muhammed Shittu Abubakar, ordered the DSS to pay ₦10 million in damages to the injured businessman.
“This is the third DG since this unfortunate case of mistaken identity happened. We were very happy when our new DG directed us to pay the money. He even added another ₦10 million to the victim’s money. It goes to show that, not only can security agencies be law abiding, we can also be full of the milk of human kindness,” the source said.
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