The Nigerian Ambassador to Chad,
Mohammed Dauda, has gone underground, triggering a massive manhunt for him.
Sources familiar with the matter
said the diplomat slipped into hiding after claiming his life was in danger
following the testimony he gave a House of Representatives committee last
month.
The government had sometime last
year recalled Mr. Dauda from his post in N’djamena to take temporary charge of
the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) after the organisation’s Director
General, Ayodele Oke, was suspended.
Mr. Oke was asked to step aside as
authorities investigate a huge cash haul belonging to the NIA uncovered at an
apartment in Lagos.
Mr. Dauda acted as head of the
security agency from November 2017 to January 2018 when he was replaced by an
aide to President Muhammadu Buhari, Ahmed Rufai Abubakar.
Sources told publish maker that
after he was replaced as head of the NIA, Mr. Dauda was asked to return to his
post in N’djamena to continue with his tour of duty.
The official however did not comply,
saying his life would be in danger in Chad, his cover as a security operative
having been blown with his appointment as acting head of the NIA.
Mr. Dauda is said to have also
argued that having now been exposed as a spy, he could no longer function as an
ambassador anywhere in the world.
While contending that he could be
eliminated if he returned to Chad, the official also failed to report to the
headquarters of the NIA for a possible fresh posting, our sources said.
“He is saying those he accused of
corruption are after him as well,” one source said.
Mr. Dauda had appeared before a
House of Representatives committee and the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission at separate times during which he made damaging allegations of
corruption against members of a panel raised by President Buhari to recommend
ways of repositioning the NIA.
Members of the panel, led by a
former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babagana Kingibe, have denied
wrongdoings, saying Mr. Dauda was only trying to get back at them because he
felt they were responsible for his removal.
Our sources said the NIA has now
commissioned an intensive search for Mr. Dauda following his refusal to appear
before a disciplinary panel raised to try him for allegedly bringing the NIA
into disrepute.
As part of moves to arrest him,
armed security men suspected to be from the NIA have continued a siege on the
residence Mr. Dauda lived while in office.
Publish maker had reported how
operatives stormed the house located in the upscale Maitama district of Abuja.
A publish maker reporter who visited
the area Tuesday afternoon sighted two grey-coloured security vans parked on
either sides of the house’s gate.
A dark-googled operative in mufti
was also stationed at the turn to the close.
Mr. Mohammed and his family are said
to be out of the house as at the time the operatives arrived.
It remained unclear Wednesday
morning whether Mr. Dauda had fled abroad or remained in the country.
The NIA could not be reached to
comment for this story Wednesday morning as the agency has no known
spokesperson.
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