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How DSS DG Tosin Ajayi Continues To Victimise Officers Suspected Of Leaking Deadly Promotion Exam Scandal –Sources
How DSS DG Tosin Ajayi Continues To Victimise Officers Suspected Of Leaking Deadly Promotion Exam Scandal –Sources
NEWS
The Nigerian Record
7/22/20264 min read
The Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Oluwatosin Ajayi, has intensified what senior security sources describe as a campaign against officers suspected of leaking details of the agency's controversial 2025 promotion examination scandal to the media, despite earlier disciplinary actions taken in the aftermath of the controversy.
Multiple senior security sources told SaharaReporters that the alleged victimisation of officers escalated after more than 200 DSS operatives, most of them from northern Nigeria, were dismissed following the scandal.
The promotion exercise, which sparked outrage within the agency, allegedly claimed the lives of at least eight officers.
SaharaReporters had reported in September 2025 that several DSS personnel accused the agency of subjecting them to "inhumane and chaotic conditions" during the promotion examinations after they were allegedly forced to finance their own transportation and accommodation because no official travel or hotel allowances were provided.
At the time, officers also alleged that the examination process was riddled with irregularities, poor organisation and a lack of transparency, while accusing the DSS leadership of allowing unqualified officials to set and mark examination papers.
The publication of those reports reportedly triggered an internal hunt for the officers believed to have supplied the information to SaharaReporters.
According to the latest sources, Ajayi has since become increasingly focused on identifying the whistleblowers.
They alleged that the DSS Director-General has largely abandoned the agency's traditional chain of command and now relies on a small circle of trusted loyalists, bypassing established institutional structures.
The sources further claimed that Ajayi's determination to identify those behind the leaks contributed to what they described as his hostile disposition toward SaharaReporters publisher and human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore.
According to them, the DSS Director-General came to regard Sowore as a "mortal enemy" after unsuccessful attempts, allegedly made through intermediaries, to cultivate a personal relationship with him.
The sources further alleged that the arrest, detention and continued seizure of the phones and other devices belonging to Zainab Sodiq, a personal assistant to Sowore, were intended to identify DSS officers who had supplied information to SaharaReporters regarding the promotion examination scandal.
They also alleged that Ajayi privately claimed he had reached an understanding with Justice M.G. Umar to secure Sowore's conviction in his ongoing criminal trial. SaharaReporters could not independently verify this claim.
According to the sources, Justice Umar has also been under pressure over an alleged petition reportedly submitted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), accusing him of accepting inducements from the Bauchi State Government to grant bail in a case after another judge had previously refused bail. SaharaReporters could not independently obtain or verify the existence of the alleged petition.
Another senior security source told SaharaReporters that Ajayi has remained frustrated by his inability to remove Fasasi, the DSS officer serving as Chief Security Officer to President Bola Tinubu, despite what the source described as repeated efforts to have him replaced.
The sources maintained that the financial burden imposed on officers during the promotion exercise, coupled with the stress and anxiety associated with the examinations, contributed to the deaths of several personnel who reportedly collapsed or became critically ill while participating in the exercise.
"It is with profound dismay that we note the recent release of the DSS promotion results," a senior DSS officer told SaharaReporters.
"This process was marred by an unprecedented tragedy, with eight officers reportedly dying due to travel-related anxiety and hardship. Compounding this grief was the injustice of requiring personnel to fund their own logistics because no official travel or accommodation allowances were provided."
Beyond the reported fatalities, officers also accused the DSS leadership of overseeing a deeply flawed promotion examination process marked by poor planning, administrative incompetence and a lack of transparency.
According to the sources, officials without the requisite expertise were assigned to set and mark the examination papers, a situation they said contributed to unusually poor results and triggered widespread discontent among personnel across the service.
"The integrity of the examination itself is in serious doubt," another source said. "The outcome, a pass rate of less than 50 percent in several cadres, reflects the incompetence that characterised the exercise and has generated widespread resentment throughout the service."
"This entire affair represents a profound betrayal of dedicated personnel and deserves an immediate, independent review," the source added.
Documents obtained by SaharaReporters indicate low promotion success rates across numerous cadres:
CSIO to ADIS: 44.4% (284 of 640)
PSIO to CSIO: 45.0% (179 of 398)
SSIO to PSIO: 74.5% (379 of 509)
SIO I to SSIO: 45.2% (132 of 292)
SIO II to SIO I: 38.2% (557 of 1,460)
SO to SIO II: 56.6% (162 of 286)
ASO to SO: 31.6% (372 of 1,176)
CD to ASO: 23.0% (34 of 148)
DI to CD: 31.3% (194 of 619)
DII to DI: 45.5% (381 of 838)
Sources further alleged that the DSS leadership has become increasingly determined to identify and punish officers believed to have disclosed details of the deaths and the promotion exercise to SaharaReporters.
"The atmosphere inside the service is one of fear," an operative said. "The leadership does not want the public to know what happened under the current administration, so anyone suspected of leaking information is being targeted."
The latest allegations come months after SaharaReporters reported that Ajayi had allegedly placed a ₦20 million bounty on officers suspected of leaking information about the promotion examination scandal and ordered the detention of 16 DSS personnel as the agency intensified efforts to uncover the sources behind the disclosures.
At the time, insider sources said the promotion exercise was dogged by allegations of widespread malpractice and manipulation, with senior officers accused of inflating scores, favouring preferred candidates and compromising the integrity of the examinations.
One source had told SaharaReporters that, following publication of the reports, Ajayi's "main focus" became identifying officers responsible for leaking information to the media, adding that he had allegedly deployed senior officers to reach individuals believed to have links with Sowore in an effort to trace the sources