The Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Mr. Adeola Oluwatosin Ajayi, has reportedly placed a ₦20 million bounty and ordered the detention of 16 DSS officers in connection with a promotion examination scandal recently exposed by SaharaReporters.
Insider sources revealed that the scandal involved widespread malpractice and manipulation of the agency’s internal promotion exams. According to reports, senior officers colluded to inflate scores, favor certain candidates, and compromise the integrity of the process, generating outrage both within and outside the service.
“His main focus is to identify DSS officers responsible for leaking information to SaharaReporters,” a top source said. “He even deployed a senior officer last week to reach out to individuals he believed were close to human rights activist Omoyele Sowore.”
The controversy follows SaharaReporters’ September 8 report on the promotion exam, which highlighted the “inhumane and chaotic conditions” officers faced. The report revealed that eight officers died while taking the exams, as many were forced to fund their own travel and accommodation without agency support, creating extreme hardship and stress.
A senior operative said at the time:
“The release of the DSS promotion results is deeply troubling. Eight officers lost their lives due to travel-related anxiety and hardship. No official travel or hotel allowances were provided, which only worsened the tragedy.”
Beyond the fatalities, insiders accused DSS leadership of overseeing a compromised examination marked by incompetence and lack of transparency. Unqualified personnel allegedly set and graded the tests, leading to shockingly low pass rates across several ranks, including:
- CSIO to ADIS: 44.4%
- PSIO to CSIO: 45.0%
- SSIO to PSIO: 74.5%
- SIO I to SSIO: 45.2%
- SIO II to SIO I: 38.2%
- SO to SIO II: 56.6%
- ASO to SO: 31.6%
- CD to ASO: 23.0%
- DI to CD: 31.3%
- DII to DI: 45.5%
“The entire process casts serious doubt on the integrity of the examinations and has caused widespread discontent across all ranks,” an insider explained.
Sources said the atmosphere of fear and secrecy within the DSS meant leadership was keen to suppress details of the deaths and poor results from becoming public. “This is why they are clamping down; they don’t want the public to know what’s happening under the new leadership,” the officer added.
