Ex-DSS Director blames Buhari govt's indifference for Nigeria's insecurity

Dennis Amachree, a former director of Nigeria's Department of State Security Services (DSS), has identified government indifference and corruption as key reasons for the escalating insecurity during former President Muhammadu Buhari's tenure. In his recently released book, "DSS@ 40: My Journey behind the shield," Amachree argues that the administration paid insufficient attention to the growing threats of insurgency, banditry, and kidnapping.

“

The period of the Muhammadu Buhari administration is viewed as a critical time when security threats metastasized, and government indifference became palpable.

Amachree contends that the administration's perceived inaction fueled perceptions of clueless leadership, especially given Buhari's background as a former military general. He notes that comments from the president, such as labeling Nigerian youths as "lazy" during international trips, exacerbated the situation by alienating a population already struggling with widespread unemployment and damaging the nation's reputation.

“

Despite being a former military general, the administration was perceived as doing “little or nothing” about the escalating threats of insurgency, banditry and kidnapping.

Beyond high-level corruption, Amachree's book details instances of government officials secretly paying billions of Naira in ransoms to bandits. He asserts that official denials of these payments were contradicted by bandits themselves, such as Bello Turji, which destroyed public faith and suggested the state was financing the very threats it claimed to be fighting. Amachree frames the core security issue not as an ethnic conflict, but as a struggle between the ruling political class and ordinary citizens, who are prevented from pursuing their daily lives in a stable environment.

“

The subsequent official denials, debunked by bandits such as Bello Turji, destroyed public faith and proved that the state was directly financing the threats it claimed it was fighting.