Shot By Mistake, Now Treated With Care: DSS Compensates Businessman with N20m And Free Medical Support

In a rare act of institutional accountability and compassion, the Department of State Services (DSS) has paid N20 million in compensation and granted lifelong, free medical care to a Sokoto-based businessman who was mistakenly shot during a 2016 operation in Jos, Plateau State.

The shooting occurred during a pre-dawn raid to arrest a suspected gunrunner. In a tragic case of mistaken identity, DSS operatives shot the businessman, who shared the same name as the real suspect, later apprehended.

In 2018, Justice Muhammed Shittu Abubakar of the Federal High Court in Bauchi (Suit No: FHC/J/CS/18/2018) ordered the DSS to pay N10 million in damages. However, it wasn’t until March 2025 that the new Director-General of the DSS, Mr. Tosin Ajayi, implemented the court’s directive. Going beyond the court ruling, he added an additional N10 million as a gesture of goodwill to acknowledge the delay and the victim’s ordeal.

In addition to the financial compensation, Mr. Ajayi directed that the businessman be integrated into the DSS medical system, granting him comprehensive, lifelong healthcare. He is currently admitted to the DSS hospital in Abuja, where he is undergoing intensive medical treatment under VIP conditions.

“He’s in a fully air-conditioned ward, receiving 24-hour care from our top doctors and being fed at no cost,” a security source revealed. “The focus is on restoring full functionality to his limbs.”

“This is the third DG since the incident,” the source added. “But we commend Mr. Ajayi’s leadership. His actions prove that security agencies can uphold the law while showing genuine human empathy.”

The DSS’s gesture has been widely praised in both security and civil society circles as a model for institutional responsibility and public trust restoration.