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Reuters
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Former National
Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, has been charged with illegally possessing
weapons and committing acts posing potential harm to national security. Last month officials said raids on several
properties owned by Mr Dasuki had found high-calibre rifles, ammunition and
five bullet-proof vehicles. Mr Dasuki - a key adviser to the former Nigerian
President Goodluck Jonathan - was dismissed along with other defence chiefs in
June by Nigeria's new leader Muhammadu Buhari.
The
Nation reports:
•‘Ex-NSA held firearms
without licence’
The immediate past
National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki, was on Monday charged to
court by the Department of State Services (DSS).
A statement yesterday by
the Acting spokesman of the DSS, Tony Opuiyo, said Dasuki was charged to court
based on evidence relating to possession of firearms without licence.
According to the
statement, the offence is punishable under Section 27(i) (a) (i) of the
Firearms Act Cap F28LFN 2004.
“This is in line with
democratic practice and our avowed commitment to the rule of law, in which
nobody is deemed to be above the law, no matter how highly placed in the
society.
“Accordingly, the general
public will be duly informed as the matter progresses”, the statement added.
The DSS on July 16,
carried out a search on property belonging to Dasuki in Abuja and Sokoto.
The search followed what
the DSS described as credible intelligence linking the ex-NSA to acts capable
of undermining national security.
“The search led to the
recovery of large cache of arms and ammunition among other things and for which
further investigation was conducted”, the DSS said.
BBC reports Nigeria's
ex National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki denies charges of illegally
possessing weapons and committing acts posing potential harm to national
security, a source close to Mr Dasuki has told BBC Hausa.
He
insists the weapons found were for the use of soldiers guarding his house as at
the time of the arrest, the source said.
Nigeria's Charged Ex
Security Adviser In Profile
Rtd
Col Sambo Dasuki played a prominent role in the fight against terrorism during
the administration of Nigeria's former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Many
accused him of not only advising the president on security issues, but also of
taking over the responsibility of the Ministry of Defence.
It
was clear that Defence Minister Rtd Gen Aliyu Gusau was sidelined during the
last few months of the previous administration.
Col
Dasuki was at the centre of a row over Nigeria's unorthodox arms procurement in
2014, when South Africa seized suitcases at an airport in Johannesburg holding
millions of dollars of cash.
The
Nigerian government said the money was intended to purchase weapons for the
fight against Boko Haram.
He
argued for the postponement of Nigeria's presidential elections earlier this
year, citing the security situation.
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