It is exactly 84 days since the Department of State Services (DSS) announced that Peter Afunanya, its spokesperson, ceased to be its director of public relations and strategic communications.

Since that announcement on September 4, the agency has continued to function without an image-maker or official mouthpiece.

“I have served diligently for 10 years in different capacities in this department. I bow out with a sense of dedication. I bow out with a sense of commitment. I remain loyal to the DSS, I remain loyal to the DGSS and I remain loyal to Nigeria,” Afunanya said as he announced his exit.

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While Afunanya said that the DSS continue to interact with the public, but on a reduced level, the agency’s failure to announce a new pick for that role almost three months after raises concerns about its readiness to prioritise public communication.

“This shouldn’t be misunderstood or misconstrued. The service will respond when there is the need to. It won’t be completely different from what happened before but the DSS will be more deliberate with the way it interfaces with the media and the public,” the outgoing spokesperson added.

GHOST TOWN X TIMELINE, INACCESSIBLE WEBSITE

In the absence of a spokesperson, the agency’s activities on its social media accounts such as its X handle seem to have dramatically diminished.

The most recent post on the DSS’ timeline was made on August 29, a day after Adeola Oluwatosin Ajayi, the new director-general of the secret police, assumed office. That was seven days before Afunaya left his role to head the Ogun State Command of the DSS.

In addition to its reduced social media activity, the agency’s website was inaccessible when FIJ checked it at press time.

FIJ subjected the DSS’ web address to some checks using free online domain and site security lock (SSL) checkers for a better understanding of the breakdown.

According to Whois.com, the website’s registration was active but it was last updated on August 15.

Similarly, when FIJ entered the agency’s web address on SSLChecker.com to check the validity of its site secure lock (SSL), the checker could not fetch any useful information about the site.

“No certificates were found,” SSLChecker.com showed.

NOT THE FIRST TIME

Not having a spokesperson is not unusual for the DSS. In fact, since its creation in 1986, the state security service has operated many times without a media officer.

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From September 3, 2015, when Marilyn Ogar, a former spokesperson at the agency, was sacked after being accused of collecting 10 trucks of kerosene as bribes and other misconduct from some corrupt government officials, until 2018, the DSS had no known spokesperson.

When Lawal Dauda headed the agency between 2015 and 2018, DSS staff Tony Opuiyo issued public statements but he never made any public appearance and remained unreachable to journalists, raising a strong suspicion that it was a pseudonym.

While announcing his exit, Afunanya said the agency could be reached via 09153391310 and 09088373515, but calls placed to the first phone number, which was reachable, rang out without a response at press time.