The Department of State Services (DSS) has released four persons who were arrested and detained over alleged links to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
The secret police also paid the victims N20 million as compensation for wrongful detention.
The Director-General of the DSS, Oluwatosin Ajayi, ordered their immediate release after a thorough review showed they had no connection with IPOB activities.
The freed suspected IPOB members are Emele Uduma Ibe, Berefgagha Appah, Ondokeyilemi Aggry and Oyeinmokebebeton Aggry.
According to the DSS, the detainees were arrested in error and had been in custody for years before the review panel exonerated them.
Ajayi has reportedly been on a clean-up mission since assuming office, ordering the release and compensation of several persons wrongfully detained by the Service.
Recall that the DSS boss recently freed a Kaduna farmer detained for two years over Boko Haram allegations and paid him N3 million, while also doubling the compensation of a Jos businessman mistakenly shot by operatives in 2016 from N10m to N20m.
Similarly, in November last year, the DSS boss directed that Kenneth Okechukwu Nwafor, who was picked up in July 2022 for alleged IPOB links, be released. He equally approved N5 million as compensation for him.
Prior to Nwafor’s freedom, three other men from Abia State – Augustine Udemba, Nelson Onyedikachi Udemba and Ifesinachi Eze – had been freed, with N5 million compensation each.
Earlier in October 2025, Ajayi ordered the release of an Abuja-based businesswoman, Mrs Chineze Ozoadibe, and approved N10 million compensation for her.
