A former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr Obadiah Mailafia has claimed that certain political forces were ambitious on killing him. Mailafia made the statement when he told The Nation newspaper that the Department of State Security (DSS) asked him to show up for an interview on Monday, September 14, by 11am, making it his third invitation from the secret police in less than two months. On Friday, 10th september,The former CBN official did not hide his concern after receiving the invitation, saying he had reasons to believe that his life is in danger.
He said “Please, pray for me. I have reasons to believe that my life is in danger and that some powerful political forces want to silence me forever for speaking the truth”. Mailafia was earlier questioned twice by the DSS after he claimed on a radio programme that a northern governor was a Boko Haram commander. He stated that he was been victimised despite not having any criminal record. He claimed he was the target of security agencies for speaking about the thousands of innocent people that have been killed in Nigeria. However, the presidency has professed support for Dr Obadiah Mailafia’s invitation by the DSS.
On Wednesday, August 19, Garba Shehu, presidential media aide, backed the DSS invitation to Mailafia admist an interview with Channels Television. As stated by him, people find it difficult to adhere to the laws of the country when they are compelled to be law-abiding in foreign nations. In another news, a group, Human Right Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has called on the Nigeria Police Force to desist from what it described as “unnecessary harassment of citizen Dr Obadiah Mailafia,” a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN].
HURIWA wants the Inspector General of Police and other relevant security agencies to conversely act on the information revealed by Mailafia during an interview he granted a radio station earlier this month. This was contained in a press statement sent to journalists by the national coordinator of the group, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko.
