The State Security Service has freed Kenneth Okechukwu Nwafor, more than three years after he was taken into custody over allegations linking him to the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra. His release came with an order for a compensation payment of five million naira.
Nwafor, who is from Isuikwuato Local Government Area of Abia State, was arrested in July 2022. The security agency said the decision to let him go followed an internal review of cases inherited by the current leadership.
The Service explained that its Director General, Oluwatosin Adeola Ajayi, has been directing investigators to revisit old files to ensure that no one remains in detention without solid grounds. According to the release issued by the agency, the directive has been part of what it described as a wider clean-up of pending cases.
“The DG directed his investigation officers to conduct detailed review of all pending cases and they have been dutifully doing that. Nwafor’s case is one of such cases,” the statement said.
The Service also pointed to what it called a pattern of corrective actions taken under the current leadership. It noted that three men from Abia — identified as Udemba, Onyedikachi and Eze — were released after similar reviews.
“Nwafor isn’t the first Igbo to be released and compensated under similar circumstances,” the statement added. It recalled earlier cases in which the Director General authorised payments to victims of wrongful arrest.
The agency cited the example of an Abuja businesswoman who received ten million naira in compensation last month after being detained by another security outfit over an allegation of illegal oil bunkering. It stated that additional funds were also shared among five others affected in unrelated cases.
In the statement, the Service said the new leadership had made what it described as adherence to the rule of law a central part of its operational direction. It added that the reviews would continue as part of a broader effort to ensure fairness and correct past errors.
