The Department of State Services (DSS) says a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Obadiah Mailaifa “profusely apologised” when he was called in for questioning in Jos over his statement on a radio station that he had information that a northern governor was the commander of Boko Haram.
DSS spokesman Peter Afunanya stated this on Friday in a statement, saying Mailaifa was “playing to the gallery” and desperate to breach peace in the country.
Mailaifa’s statement cost the radio station Nigeria Info a N5 million hate speech fine from the National Broadcasting Commission.
The DSS knocked the former CBN executive for crossing “the lines of decorum” and for not sharing the alleged information he had with security agencies.
“This, he has agreed to be a grievous error on his part. It, however, suggests his mischief and determination to use the fake news he spewed to incite the people under his control.
“It is even more condemnable that Mailafiya, who had profusely apologized during his visit to the Service’s Plateau State Command for his ignoble statement, would, afterwards, announce to the world that he stood by his misguided eruption,” Mr Afunanya said.
He urged the public to desist from making inflammatory statements capable of stoking tension in the country.
“The Service will not stand idly and watch disgruntled and aggrieved elements take laws into their hands and cause mayhem in the polity.
“In line with its mandate of detecting and preventing threats and crimes against the internal security of Nigeria, the Service hereby reiterates its previous warning that it will henceforth not condone unruly conducts of persons and groups that ought to know better,” Afunanya said.
