A former Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Dennis Amachree, has attributed the worsening insecurity during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari to government inaction, corruption, and policies that allegedly emboldened criminal groups.
In his newly released book, DSS@40: My Journey Behind the Shield, Amachree argued that the Buhari administration failed to respond effectively to the growing threats of insurgency, banditry and kidnapping, allowing the security situation to deteriorate.
According to the former intelligence chief, the administration paid little attention to the escalating security challenges despite Buhari’s background as a retired military general.
“The period of the Muhammadu Buhari administration is viewed as a critical time when security threats metastasized and government indifference became palpable,” Amachree wrote.
He added that the government’s perceived inability to tackle the rising wave of violence fuelled public perceptions of weak leadership and eroded confidence in its commitment to democratic governance.
Amachree also criticised Buhari’s remark describing Nigerian youths as “lazy,” saying the comment, made at a time of widespread unemployment, further alienated many young Nigerians and damaged the country’s image internationally.
The former DSS director further alleged that corruption among top government officials compounded the nation’s security challenges. He claimed that governments secretly paid billions of naira in ransom to bandits, a practice he said effectively financed terrorism and kidnapping.
According to him, subsequent official denials were contradicted by statements from notorious bandit leader Bello Turji, undermining public trust and reinforcing claims that the state was indirectly funding the same criminal groups it sought to combat.
Amachree also argued that Nigeria’s security crisis should not be viewed primarily as an ethnic conflict but as a consequence of the actions of the political class.
“The true impediment to peace and stability is the political class, which refuses to allow citizens to pursue their daily lives in a stable environment,” he wrote.
He maintained that as economic hardship deepened and insecurity worsened, many political leaders prioritised personal interests over national stability, a trend he described as a major threat to social cohesion and national security.
