A top official of the State Security Service has said the service found stockpiles of U.S. dollars and not arms and ammunition during its raid of the Akwa Ibom government house.
The notes were found locked up in a room in one of the guest houses within the expansive complex, a source told Premium Times.
On Thursday, September 4, the SSS had raided the hilltop mansion in a joint operation carried out by operatives from the agency’s headquarters in Abuja and a detachment from the Akwa Ibom state command of the service.
Some of the operatives had said earlier said they found arms and ammunition in one of the rooms in the complex but a top source debunked this on Friday night, saying it was an exaggeration.
The top official, who pleaded anonymity said: “Our men went there expecting weaponry but we didn’t find arms. Instead, we stumbled on a room filled with stockpiles of dollars.”
He noted that the service didn’t touch the dollars for fear of that there might be political backlash it was evacuated as they had no instruction to do so.
Another source disclosed that the SSS initially wanted to evacuate the dollar notes but their superiors in Abuja instructed them to let the hard currency be.
The security service were said to have stormed the Akwa Ibom government house, which is yet to be occupied by the serving Governor, Udom Emmanuel, based on a tip off that suggested arms and ammunition were stored in a room there.
The raid has attracted harsh criticisms from the likes of Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state and other leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party.
The acting chairman of the party, Uche Secondus, while hosting Bayelsa State governor, Seriake Dickson, in his office Friday, described the raid as a civilian coup d’état.
On his part, Fayose described the invasion as “regrettable, unfortunate, condemnable”, adding that the actions of the DSS boss have come to symbolize dictatorship which “democracy abhors.”
He therefore demanded immediate sack of the DSS boss, Lawal Daura, who he accused of being behind the operation.
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