Aisha Bichi, the wife of the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), is alleged to have blocked Engineer Abba Yusuf, the state gubernatorial candidate of the New Nigeria People's Party (NNPP), from boarding an aircraft at the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA).
According to Prime 9ja Online, the incident began when Yusuf's motorcade allegedly prevented Mrs Bichi's convoy from entering the VIP area.
It was reported that this forced her security detail to intervene to clear the way, and in doing so, the security detail and the governor candidate's aide got into a fight.
According to a source who asked to remain anonymous, when Yusuf addressed Mrs Bichi about the event, things escalated into a conflict.
“The situation escalated after she told Abba that they will not board the same flight as earlier scheduled, and she spotted one of his aides, Garba Kilo, filming,” the source said.
Kilo, who was said to have been beaten up on the orders of Mrs Bichi, was reportedly taken to the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital for treatment.
“They beat him (Kilo) up badly, and this is what probably made Abba insist that he will board the same flight with her as scheduled, which angered her more, and she ordered his arrest,” the source said.
It was further gathered that another reinforcement of the secret police restrained the gubernatorial candidate until the flight to Mrs Bichi took off.
But a senior official of the DSS, who was present during the clash but asked not to be named, said the whole issue could have been avoided and that it was wrong to describe the wife of the DSS boss as the aggressor.
While Sanusi Bature, the spokesman of the NNPP candidate, could not be reached for comment, the spokesman of the DSS, Dr Peter Afunanya, told Prime 9ja Online that the report of personnel of the service brutalising a citizen was unfounded, saying “nobody was brutalised by the Service; we enforce the law within the rules of engagement.”
He said reports that the gubernatorial candidate was arrested “is a baseless gossip that does not require the attention of the Service, a professional newspaper or a journalist”.