Former Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav
A former Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Abubakar Tsav, tellsADELANI ADEPEGBA that only trusted security operatives should guard the President
Who should guard the president? Is it the Department of State Services, the police, the military or all of them together?
It’s a combination of them all. This is because you find in a number of situations that the Chief Security Officer is always an SSS officer. If there is no rivalry among the three, there should be no problem at all, but the problem we have in this country is that every security service is trying to prove that they are superior to others and this is why there is always conflict. President Muhammadu Buhari had been in the army and he is more comfortable with the army and that is why he may prefer the army because he is more comfortable with them. We hear a lot of stories of divided loyalty and about all manners of people that were recruited into the SSS like Niger Delta militants who passed through Asari Dokubo. Such people cannot be loyal to one person, they would be loyal to the person who brought them into the service.
The aide-de-camp to the President was alleged to have rejected 253 DSS personnel that were posted to the Villa. Do you think he has the authority to do this?
Yes, he has the authority. During the tenure of former President Goodluck Jonathan, there was a lot of divided loyalty and they were spending a lot of money trying to please all the security agencies. During Jonathan’s tenure, many people that should have been arrested and interrogated like Asari Dokubo, appeared to be very very friendly with the Director-General of the SSS. Therefore, I think in the course of that, the ADC may not be comfortable with the SSS.
What is the security implication of the rivalry between the military and the DSS at the Villa?
It’s not good for the security of the country, it is not good for the security of the president, and it’s not good for the country generally. All of them should work together, they should help one another. In the country, we have the police, the Federal Road Safety Corps, the Civil Defence, all trying to please different masters. There is also the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission also engaging in rivalry, everyone is trying to outdo the other, everybody is trying to show that “I am bigger than the others.” I think the government should try and do something about it.
Don’t you think the service chiefs or other top officers should have nipped the crisis in the bud before it became public knowledge?
Yes, I think so. I am sorry to mention this, but what about the service chiefs themselves? Are they loyal? They are not. Look at when Buhari was about to contest, when he asked for his certificate, the same constituency which he served and rose to the rank of Major-General, the same constituency, which was supposed to be the custodian of the certificate, said it was missing. Did they show loyalty to him? They have divided loyalty. This country has been polarised with politics and bastardised by corruption and that is the situation.
If you say the President doubts the loyalty of the military, why does he prefer them to protect him?
I said he is more comfortable with the military because he had served the military and he must have known a lot of these people whom he could trust.
Is the crisis not a sign that the presidential security is in disarray and needs to be reconfigured?
Ever since the time of late General Sani Abacha, there has been the Strike Force which they are still using. At that time, we were told that the Strike Force was going out to kill people outside the Villa, and was challenging other army units in the country. With that type of arrangement, the man heading it can cause crisis anytime.
Is this crisis not a sign of a larger problem in the national security architecture?
As I told you before, during Jonathan’s tenure, a lot of people were recruited into the security services, particularly the Niger Delta people who were attacking the nation’s economic base. Some of them were absorbed into the police, SSS and such people would pay loyalty to the person who brought them into service. That is why the President’s ADC is saying he is not comfortable with the SSS serving them. I think the government needs to reform the security service.
In other countries, the secret service is usually in charge of presidential security. Do you think the military still have any business protecting a democratically elected president?
Supposing the President is not comfortable with them, must they be imposed on him? No, that is the situation. The man is not comfortable with an arm of the security outfit, that is why he wants his own people. That is why sometimes, they bring officers for the president to select those he wants. The man has the right to select the people he has confidence in to protect him. During Jonathan’s time, he was surrounded by people from the Niger Delta, the people he trusted to protect him.
Many believe President Buhari rejected the DSS because he had problems with the service when he was contesting. Critics said he is being vindictive. Do you agree?
No, I don’t agree with that assumption. He has to choose the people he wants to protect him. There was a time, if you remember, when President Buhari said he would observe traffic light, many people advised him that it was risky and that it was not good for him. Therefore, some people must have advised him on whom to protect him and maybe that was why he yielded to their advice.
What international best practices should the security agencies adopt in protecting the President and his vice?
Once a President is elected, they should draft new security personnel and post them to the Villa until the President completes his tenure.
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