How el-Rufai beat SSS ambush at airport
Taiwo Adisa, Abuja - 12.05.2008
Fresh facts have
emerged on how the
former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, last week escaped what has been described as an ambush by operatives of the State Security Services (SSS) at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
He was on his way to London where he is studying International Law and was billed to sit for his examinations when the operatives accosted him on Thursday.
The former minister had appeared before the Senate Committee on FCT headed by Senator Abubakar Sodangi on April 30 and May 7 to clarify issues surrounding the activities of the FCT Ministry under him, and was headed for London when he was accosted by an operative who was said to have claimed that he was under “government’s instruction” not to allow him (el-Rufai) travel outside Nigeria.
The former minister had immediately put a call through to the Chief of Staff to President Umaru Yar’Adua, General Abdullahi Mohammed, to know if there was a move to actually stop him.
He was also said to have intimated the Director General of the SSS, while boarding was ongoing in the British Airways flight.
When the Chief of Staff called el-Rufai, his message was that there was no offence the man had committed to stop him from travelling abroad.
He was told to hand over the phone to the operative and when he did, the Chief of Staff was said to have asked whose orders the operative was executing.
The operative was immediately asked to hands off the bid to stop the former minister.
It was, however, gathered that the SSS operatives from the FCT Command actually initiated the attempt to stop the former minister on the basis of an allegation that his administration sold a house set aside for security institutions during the sale of Federal Government’s houses.
A senior officer of the SSS had petitioned the Senate Committee on FCT probing the sale of houses in the FCT, but not much was heard about the petition during the public hearing.
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