* Buhari                                                                                          * Dasuki 


by Tony ICHEKU, Abuja

 The dramatic turn of events surrounding the sack, detention and on-going trial of  former National Security Adviser, NSA, Colonel Sambo Dasuki beginning late August 2015, may have been part of  pre-emptive measures to checkmate him and prevent his toppling the then newly elected President Muhammadu Buhari.

 Providing background information on the issue, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Garba Shehu explained that  the  APC Presidential Campaign  was aware that it was penetrated by fifth columnists, and it reached a decision at  its  security committee  "to run a story announcing that the National Security Adviser at that time, Mr. Sambo Dasuki, was staging a second coup d’etat against Muhammadu Buhari."

 Garba further elaborated that their worst fears were later confirmed as not only did Dasuki ochestrate the postponement of the election, but members of the Campaign Council came under security  siege.

 “This time around, all the things that followed, the postponement of the election on account of this,  and a lot of the thinking of the campaign was that this was yet another coup being hatched by the National Security Adviser and we eventually discovered that this siege on our homes was to pre-empt the story”, Garba said recalling how he was terrorised.

 “That  day,  there was a security siege at my home, I woke up to see that my house had been surrounded by armed policemen in the course of the campaign.

 “In fact it was the cocking of their guns that rose me and my family members from our sleep. Only to discover that tens of policemen, police vehicles, and some other unidentified vehicles darkened our windows around my home.

 “The first thing I did was to say ‘Who will help me out of this situation?’ I needed to expose what was going on, and the‎ first man I reached was Adebola Williams of Statecraft. Adebola began to announce on Facebook and Twitter from that moment until the security elements realized that the whole world was looking at what they were doing, because I remained indoors throughout the siege."

 “Of course it was much later that we came to know why they had come. Even the APC Presidential Campaign was penetrated by fifth columnists, and I will make this confession, because a day before that siege we had had a meeting with the security committee at which we agreed that we were going to run a story announcing that the National Security Adviser at that time, Mr. Sambo Dasuki, was staging a second coup d’etat against Muhammadu Buhari."

 “This time around, all the things that followed, the postponement of the election on account of this and that and a lot of the thinking of the campaign was that this was yet another coup being hatched by the National Security Adviser and we eventually discovered that this siege on our homes was to pre-empt the story”, Mr. Shehu said.

 Garba was speaking at The Red Media Summit in Lagos organised by  StateCraft recalled that the former National Security Adviser was involved in a coup that kicked out Muhammadu Buhari as military Head of State  in 1984.

 It will be recalled that Dasuki was sacked late August, 2015, his homes in Abuja and Sokoto were raided by the Directorate of State Security, DSS and several incriminating items including five luxurious armoured cars, seven high calibre rifles and magazines and other items recovered.  

 He was subsequently charged to  Federal High Court, Abuja  on a one-count criminal charge of  illegal possession of firearms contrary to section 27(1) (a) of the Firearms Act, CAP F28, Law of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

 Dasuki who pleaded not guilty to the charge and was granted bail on self-recognition, meanwhile hearing for the case had been   fixed for October 26 and 27, 2015.

 At the height of the drama, Dasuki had cried out that he was being witch-hunted: "I gave my best  for this transition which led to  the victory of the opposition over the ruling party. This is a witch-hunt, they are desperately looking for something to implicate me" he said then.