A claim that both the newly appointed Director Generals of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the State Security Service (SSS) are from Yoruba ethnic group has surfaced online.
This follows the recent appointment of the new directors for the agencies by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
An X user, @arewatwiter, posted the claim with a caption thus:
“NIA Yoruba
DSS Yoruba
In just one day”
The post has garnered over 480,000 views with more than 500 reposts, over 1,600 likes and over 1,000 comments as of August 31, 2024.
Another X user, @xagreat posted the claim with a caption that read:
“Mohammed Mohammed the new NIA DG is a Yoruba man from Kwara while Mr. Oluwatosin Ajayi the new DSS DG is also a Yoruba from south west. Yoruba Lokan”
The post has generated over 200,000 views alongside more than 300 reposts and over 900 likes as of August 31, 2024.
CLAIM
The newly appointed Directors-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the State Security Service (SSS) are from the Yoruba extraction.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub reveal that the claim is HALF-TRUE.
President Tinubu recently appointed Ambassador Mohammed Mohammed as the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and Adeola Ajayi as the Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS). Note that the SSS is sometimes referred to as the Department of State Service (DSS).
According to a statement released by Ajuri Ngelale, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, these appointments followed the resignation of the previous heads of the two agencies.
Adeola Ajayi is an indigene of Ogun State, which is in Southwestern Nigeria, and he is from the Yoruba ethnic group. He has risen through the ranks within the SSS, serving as State Director in various states, including Bauchi, Enugu, Bayelsa, Rivers, and Kogi.
However, Ambassador Mohammed Mohammed is an indigene of Lafiagi in Kwara State. Lafiagi is the headquarters of Edun Local Government Area, predominantly inhabited by people from the Nupe ethnic group.
Mohammed, a seasoned diplomat and intelligence officer, hails from Kwara State and has held various positions within the NIA, including Director of Operations and Director of Intelligence. Before his recent appointment, he was the head of the Nigerian mission to Sudan.
Thus, while Ajayi is Yoruba by tribe, Mohammed is from the Nupe extraction.
THE VERDICT
The claim that both the newly appointed Director Generals of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the State Security Service (SSS) are from the Yoruba ethnic group is HALF-TRUE; while Ajayi is Yoruba by tribe, Mohammed is from the Nupe extraction.
Nurudeen Akewushola is a fact-checker with FactCheckHub. He has authored several fact checks which have contributed to the fight against information disorder. You can reach him via [email protected] and @NurudeenAkewus1 via Twitter.
 and the State Security Service (SSS) are from Yoruba ethnic group has surfaced online.){kind=link}