DSS offers cash compensation free medical care to Businessman in mistaken identity shooting
DSS offers cash compensation free medical care to Businessman in mistaken identity shooting
As part of its commitment to justice and compassion, the Department of State Services (DSS) has invited a Sokoto-based businessman mistakenly shot during a 2016 operation—to its hospital in Abuja for free medical care.
This move follows the directive of DSS Director-General, Mr. Tosin Ajayi, who in March approved the payment of ₦10 million in court-awarded damages to the victim.
In a further gesture of goodwill, the DG added another ₦10 million in compensation, raising the total to ₦20 million.
Ajayi also instructed that the businessman be formally enrolled in the DSS medical system, granting him unrestricted access to comprehensive healthcare services at no cost.
It was gathered that the businessman arrived at the hospital a few days ago and has been undergoing free medical tests and treatment from the hospital’s best doctors.
A source in the agency told The Nation that: “True to the DG’s directive, the man has been in the VIP ward which, of course, is fully air-conditioned. They have been running a series of checks and giving him round-the-clock medical attention, in order to make him regain full control of his limbs. I even understand the DG asked that he be fed for free.”
In 2016, a pre-dawn operation by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) in Jos, Plateau State, took a tragic turn when they mistakenly shot and injured a businessman who shared the same name as their actual target, a suspected gunrunner. The intended suspect was later apprehended.
Two years later, in 2018, the injured businessman, represented by his lawyer Idris Akibu, filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Bauchi.
In its ruling on case number FHC/J/CS/18/2018, Justice Muhammed Shittu Abubakar ordered the DSS to pay ₦10 million as compensation for the wrongful shooting.
“This is the third DG since this unfortunate case of mistaken identity happened. We were very happy when our new DG directed us to pay the money. He even added another ₦10 million to the victim’s money. It goes to show that, not only can security agencies be law abiding, we can also be full of the milk of human kindness,” the source said.
