Shortly after he turned himself in at the headquarters of the Nigeria Police Force in Abuja, having been declared wanted, the spokesman of former Military President Ibrahim Babangida, Kassim Afegbua has been invited by the Department of State Services, DSS.
“I got a call from the Department of State Services (DSS) this evening,” Afegbua said on Wednesday.
Revealing what transpired between him and the police, Afegbua said they apologised to him, blaming his being declared wanted, a mix-up.
Addressing journalists after the visit to the police headquarters, Afegbua said: “The police said there was a mix-up somewhere to have warranted me being declared wanted, and they apologised. They said they didn’t intend to harass me; that they didn’t intend to intimidate me.”
He also disclosed that Babangida had been giving him the necessary support since the problem started.
Said he: “It will even interest you to know that when I was declared wanted on Channels TV and Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), my boss, IBB, was the one who called me and said ‘Why are they declaring you wanted? Are you a criminal?’ And we laughed over it.
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“He also asked if I was on the run and if I have been given invitation. He said okay, that is interesting. My boss said he heard on the news that they talked about defamation of character and he asked ‘Whose character have you defamed?’”
The police declared Afegbua wanted on Monday following the statement he issued on Sunday on behalf of his principal, Babangida, advising President Muhammadu Buhari not to stay in office beyond 2019.
The statement sparked off the fire of controversy when, hours later, another statement purportedly by Babangida was issued denying the one issued by Afegbua.
Despite the counter-statement, he maintained that he got the authority of Babangida to issue the statement and that the former Military President had maintained that he stood by his (Afegbua) statement.
Afegbua on Tuesday gave the hint that he would turn himself in on Wednesday following the declaration that he was wanted.
The hint came as he condemned his being declared wanted when he never went into hiding.
Speaking through his lawyer, Ajulo, Afegbua said declaring him wanted was an attempt to intimidate him.