01 December 2015•Update: 05 December 2015
LAGOS, Nigeria
Nigerian secret police have arrested the country's former national security adviser Sambo Dasuki for alleged fraud in the purchase of arms for counterinsurgency operations against Boko Haram in the northeast, official sources said Tuesday.
This is the first time in Nigeria’s recent history that a national security adviser-level official, who acts as go between the country’s security chiefs from the army, navy, air force and police, is being held accountable.
"The former NSA [national security adviser] was arrested this morning. He is now in our office here in Abuja," a secret police representative said.
Dasuki's counsel Joseph Daudu confirmed the arrest, but did not say the charges brought against his client.
"Yes, I can confirm that my client was arrested this morning and taken to the headquarters of the DSS [Department of State Service]," Daudu told AA.
The Department of State Service is an intelligence agency linked with the Nigerian police.
The arrest came despite a local court ruling granting Dasuki permission to travel abroad for a medical checkup. The secret police urged the court to retract the travel permission, saying Dasuki was a "standing criminal".
Nigerian authorities accuse Dasuki of allegedly diverting funds meant for anti-Boko Haram operations. In a statement on Nov. 17, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the arrest of Dasuki after a 13-man panel of military commanders and experts accused the former security chief of diverting over $2 billion meant for arms purchase through "fictitious contracts".
"The findings made so far are extremely worrying considering that the interventions were granted within the same period that our troops were fighting the insurgency in the northeast who were in desperate need of platforms, military equipment and ammunition.
“Had the funds siphoned off to these non performing companies been properly used for the purpose they were meant for, thousands of needless Nigerian deaths would have been avoided," the Nov. 17 State House statement said.
On Monday, at least three top officials, including a former minister of finance, who worked with Dasuki were arrested by Nigeria's anti-graft agency in connection with the probe.
