By George Mgbeleke <\/p>\n
Pro-democracy and civil rights advocacy group HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has faulted the decision of the office of the National Security Adviser to drag to the Department of State Services, the matter of the accusation made against the NSA Mr. Nuhu Ribadu by former Governor of Kaduna state Mallam Nassir El-Rufai concerning a plot to import odourless but toxic chemical substance into Nigeria. <\/p>\n
The Rights group has instead admonished the NSA to institute a suit before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory or the Federal High Court, Abuja Division so the erstwhile Governor of Kaduna State and a former Federal minister who is a prominent leader of the political opposition can have the opportunity to tender evidence and to directly confront the person he has accused just as the courts of competent authority has the judicial powers of the Federation in accordance with Section 6 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. <\/p>\n
HURIWA said since the office of the Department of State Services just like every national security affiliated institutions are coordinated from the office of the National Security Adviser, it can be considered a resort to a self-help measure for the office of the National Security Adviser to file a petition against an opposition politician to a government office under the supervision of the office of the National Security Adviser to the President of the Federation. “The government should avoid exercising powers and authority in such a way that it would be interpreted that the political opposition leadership are under a military styled repression.”<\/p>\n
HURIWA in a statement by the National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko, recalled that the immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, had asked the Office of the National Security Adviser to clarify what he described as information available to opposition figures regarding the alleged procurement of a toxic chemical substance.<\/p>\n
In a letter dated January 30, 2026 and addressed to the National Security Adviser in Abuja, El-Rufai said he was seeking \u201cclarification and reassurance\u201d over reports that the office planned to obtain thallium sulphate from abroad.
\nEl-Rufai posted a copy of the letter on his official X handle on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The former governor noted that the substance is regarded as dangerous and tightly regulated, stressing the need for transparency.
\n\u201cI am writing as a concerned citizen to seek clarification and reassurance regarding information available to the political opposition leadership about a procurement of approximately 10 kilograms of Thallium Sulphate by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), reportedly from a supplier in Poland.
\n\u201cGiven that thallium salts are highly toxic and tightly controlled substances, I believe it is important \u2013 for public safety, democratic accountability and for maintaining public trust \u2013 to confirm the following details\u201d, the letter partly read.<\/p>\n
HURIWA also recalled that the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) on Sunday denied procuring thallium sulphate, a highly toxic, colourless and odourless compound capable of killing humans in small doses.<\/p>\n
In a reply by OM Adesuyi, a brigadier general, signing on behalf of Mr Ribadu, the ONSA acknowledged receipt of Mr El-Rufai\u2019s correspondence and denied the allegation.
\n\u201cONSA has neither procured nor initiated any process for the purchase of such material, and has no intention of doing so,\u201d the statement signed by Mr Adesuyi, stated in the letter, first published by TheCable.<\/p>\n
The letter added that the matter had been referred to the State Security Service (SSS) for a comprehensive investigation, and that Mr El-Rufai and other parties in possession of relevant information would be invited by the service to provide evidence.
\n\u201cYour Excellency and other parties involved, who may possess relevant information relating to this claim, will be duly invited by the Service to provide any evidence that may assist in an in-depth investigation, establishing the facts and ensuring due diligence,\u201d the letter read.<\/p>\n
HURIWA disagreed with the dimension and direction that the office of the NSA has taken the matter which suggest a show and demonstration of ‘MIGHT IS RIGHT’ which the Rights group described as illegal and unethical for a government official being accused by a political opponent of the government in power to then use officers answerable to him to seek to intimidate or harass into silence the political opposition leader who has made the allegation. <\/p>\n
“The office of the NSA should go to court and allow for adjudication of the matter by an institution that is not affiliated to the NSA because dragging Nassir El-Rufai to the DSS is like becoming the prosecutor and the judge in your own matter. Let this matter go to the court of law so all parties can exercise their fundamental freedoms to disclose whatever information they have. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By George Mgbeleke Pro-democracy and civil rights advocacy group HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has faulted the decision of the office of the National Security Adviser to drag to the Department of State Services, the matter of the accusation made against the NSA Mr. Nuhu Ribadu by former Governor of Kaduna state Mallam […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9943,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[346,672,939],"class_list":["post-11116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-allegation","tag-leadership","tag-opposition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11116"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11117,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11116\/revisions\/11117"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}