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Musings On The NIA Muhammed Dauda And Justice
Musings On The NIA Muhammed Dauda And Justice
By: Inuwa Bwala
For give years now Ambassador Muhamned Dauda, former Director General of the National Intelligence Agency. NIA and Nigeria’s former Ambassador to Chad, has been 9n the virtual run for his life.
His family members had to equally go under for their lives, as agents of a cabal that conspired to remove Dauda from office, also went for his jugular.
For the past five years, Dauda cried out for justice and petitioned the world that his removal was a witch hunt, and that some powerful people in the immediate past administration were behind it.
He petitioned the Presidency several times trying to narrate his ordeals, but each time, his cries were either suppressed or the President was deliberately prevented from taking action.
Dauda went to the courts to seek redress, for which he has been consistently threatened and intimidated.
He fled our borders and continued to pursue his cause untill Thursday when the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division ordered his reinstatement as Director General DG of the National Intelligence agency NIA.
One could describe Dauda’s pursuit for justice as one long tortoise journey.
Even to a layman like me one could see the clear destination of the matter, and no one was blind to the intrigues that played out; trying to cover up the monumental fraud that was Dauda’s sack.
That he was vilified for daring to seek justice, is a story for another day, but the eventual judgement last Thursday must have come as a big relief.
Legal pundits and even ordinary minds have described it as a sound judgement by Justice Peter Ige, which will fit a long time remain a watershed in Nigeria’s legal history.
Justice Ige said in the judgement that, the evidence leading to the dismissal of Dauda was frivolous and lacking in merit, and thereby lame and ineffective.
That Judgement had resolved all the contentious issues against the NIA and in favour of the former DG, who was the respondent in the appeal suit.
In ordering for Dauda’s reinstatement and the payment of his salaries and entitlements since the day of his purported dismissal from office, the diplomat DG could begin to pick the pieces of his life and redesign a new life.
While he may not be able to physically return to his seat: having attained the mandatory age of retirement while outside, the judgement not only vindicated him, but exposes the rot in the underbelly of the NIA.
And by ordering the payment of damages to him the appellate court also has succeeded in making an examplery statement, to the effect that, injustice carries with it a burden, that may not be punitively heavy enough but symbolically embarrassing.
Justice Ige in holding that: “Dauda should be allowed to retire in service in accordance with the stipulated laws guarding the NIA, has equally provided a solution to the seeming quagmire, as Dauda himself may not even be interested in sitting on that seat again, but has at least made the point.
Justice Ige was assertive when he said. “There is no evidence before the court that shows that the respondent has constituted any risk or breached any law”, which 8n effect corroborates Ambassador Dauda’s arguments all along, that, he has been a victim of a conspiracy, for resisting to be corrupted.
While it is being argued that, Ambassador Muhammed Dauda may have achieved justice, the cost may remain inestimable untill those behind the act are fully exposed and brought to book.
For those who might not have been familiar with this matter: Muhammed Dauda acted as the head of National Intelligence Agency, NIA from November 2017 to January 2018,when he was replaced by an aide to president Muhammadu Buhari, under very curious circumstances.
Dauda had spent just few months on the job before he was forced out, following which he challenged his removal in court, arguing that his dismissal from service did not follow the due process.
He argued that in contravention of the law, no special management staff of the disciplinary committee (SMSDC) was set up to investigate the charges against him,and he was not given any fair hearing afterwards.
The National Industrial court had in an earlier judgement delivered by Justice Olufunke Anuwe, ordered the reinstatement of Mohammed Dauda as the head of National Intelligence Agency and payment of salaries and entitlements from March 2018 till date after it found that his dismissal fell short of the NIA Act.
In the judgment delivered by Justice Olufunke Anuwe, it was held that, under the agency’s rule, the appropriate committee to investigate disciplinary cases against management staff is the management staff disciplinary committee, “not the special management staff disciplinary committee”.
The NIA appealed Justice Olufunke’s judgement which was thrown out last Thursday.
Musings On The NIA Muhammed Dauda And Justice
PRESIDENT TINUBU NOMINATES GENERAL CHRISTOPHER MUSA AS THE NEW MINISTER OF DEFENCE
By: Our Reporter
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has nominated General Christopher Gwabin Musa as the new Minister of Defence.
In a letter to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, President Tinubu conveyed General Musa’s nomination as the successor to Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, who resigned on Monday.
General Musa, 58, on December 25, is a distinguished soldier who served as Chief of Defence Staff from 2023 until October 2025. He won the Colin Powell Award for Soldiering in 2012.
Born in Sokoto in 1967, General Musa received his primary and secondary education there before attending the College of Advanced Studies in Zaria. He graduated in 1986 and enrolled at the Nigerian Defence Academy the same year, earning a Bachelor of Science degree upon graduation in 1991.
General Musa was commissioned into the Nigerian Army as a Second Lieutenant in 1991 and has since had a distinguished career. His appointments include General Staff Officer 1, Training/Operations at HQ 81 Division; Commanding Officer, 73 Battalion; Assistant Director, Operational Requirements, Department of Army Policy and Plans; and Infantry Representative/Member, Training Team, HQ Nigerian Army Armour Corps.
In 2019, he served as Deputy Chief of Staff, Training/Operations, Headquarters Infantry Centre and Corps; Commander, Sector 3, Operation Lafiya Dole; and Commander, Sector 3 Multinational Joint Task Force in the Lake Chad Region.
In 2021, General Musa was appointed Theatre Commander, Operation Hadin Kai. He later became Commander of the Nigerian Army Infantry Corps before being appointed Chief of Defence Staff by President Tinubu in 2023.
In the letter to the Senate, President Tinubu expressed confidence in General Musa’s ability to lead the Ministry of Defence and further strengthen Nigeria’s security architecture.
End
Finally, DSS Arraigns Sowore on alleged Cybercrime Offences
By: Our Reporter
Judge bars him from inciting public, undermining national security
The Department of State Services (DSS) on Tuesday arraigned a politician and online publisher, Omoyele Sowore, before a Federal High Court in Abuja, for alleged cybercrimes, with the court barring him from further making statements that are detrimental to the peace and security of the country.
Justice Mohammed Umar, in a ruling, threatened to revoke the bail granted Sowore’ should he ever make such statements. The arraignment came after two previous attempts, with the politician’s lawyer introducing what the DSS lawyer, Akinolu Kehinde SAN, called legal obstacles.
On Tuesday, however, Justice Umar held that since there was evidence that Sowore was a presidential candidate in the country before and having also earlier been granted bail by the court, with his international passport still being held by the court, he was entitled to be granted bail on self-recognition.
The ruling was on a bail application argued by his lawyer, Marshall Abubakar, shortly after Sowore was arraigned on a five-count charge, in which he is accused of defaming President Bola Tinubu by referring to him as a criminal in his posts on X and Facebook.
When the charge, being prosecuted by the Department of State Services (DSS), was read to him, Sowore pleaded not guilty.
In the charge, Sowore, the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2019 and 2023 elections, is accused of contravening the provisions of the the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Amendment Act, 2024 and the Criminal Code Act by calling President Bola Tinubu a criminal
The two other defendants listed in the charge, marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/484/2025 are X Incorp (formerly Twitter) and Meta (Facebook) Incorp.
Details shortly.
Finally, DSS Arraigns Sowore on alleged Cybercrime Offences
News
One killed, dozens abducted as bandits launch multiple attacks in Zurmi, Bungudu LGAs in Zamfara
One killed, dozens abducted as bandits launch multiple attacks in Zurmi, Bungudu LGAs in Zamfara
By: Zagazola Makama
Armed bandits have carried out a series of coordinated attacks across parts of Zamfara State, killing one person and abducting several others in Zurmi and Bungudu Local Government Areas, security sources have confirmed.
In the first incident, bandits invaded Tungar Tsamiya village in Moriki District of Zurmi LGA at about 10:40 p.m. on Nov. 30, shooting dead one resident and abducting 10 others.
Security forces launched a search-and-rescue operation to locate the victims.
Barely hours later, on Monday morning, another group of bandits attacked Doguwar Gona forest in the same Moriki District.
The assailants abducted 17 men and women who were in the area fetching firewood. Security personnel are tracking the movement of the attackers with the aim of rescuing the captives.
In a separate incident in Bungudu LGA, gunmen armed with AK-47 rifles stormed Makwa village in Kurar Mota District at about 12:15 p.m. on Dec. 1 and abducted an unconfirmed number of residents.
Troops of Operation FANSAN YANMA and police operatives, supported by local vigilante groups, have intensified efforts to rescue all abducted victims and restore calm across the affected communities.
Search operations are ongoing.
One killed, dozens abducted as bandits launch multiple attacks in Zurmi, Bungudu LGAs in Zamfara
PRESIDENT TINUBU NOMINATES GENERAL CHRISTOPHER MUSA AS THE NEW MINISTER OF DEFENCE
Finally, DSS Arraigns Sowore on alleged Cybercrime Offences
One killed, dozens abducted as bandits launch multiple attacks in Zurmi, Bungudu LGAs in Zamfara
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