The Yellow House

But for the presence of armed security operatives keeping vigil over the structure round the clock, the imposing headquarters of the State Security Service could easily pass as the private residence of an influential politician or a business magnate. Located a few meters from the Presidential Villa within the Three-Arms Zone, Asokoro, Abuja, the structure popularly called, ‘Yellow House’ hosts the office of the Director-General, Ita Ekpeyong and other top management staff of the secret service. Sitting along the popular Aso Drive like a beached whale, the sprawling compound can only be accessed through a partitioned portion of the road. The massive edifice is surrounded by a high fence. Recently, spiked barbed wire was used to reinforce the perimeter fence. The front is also protected with heavy concrete barricades. Armed and alert operatives in black, cradling Tavor rifles eye passing vehicles warily. The building can be reached from two directions. From the Federal Secretariat, a visitor can locate the SSS headquarters by taking a right turn off Shehu Shagari Way and then descending the bridge down to Aso Drive. Alternatively, the office can be accessed by taking a right fork off the Murtala Mohammed (Kubwa) Expressway at the lower end of Maitama District. People can only go to the SSS headquarters on invitation or if you are under arrest. Visitors are usually screened and first confirmed to have been invited by an armed team at a checkpoint a few metres before the building. After passing the scrutiny of the assault team, the guest is allowed to proceed to another checkpoint at the gate where another routine check is conducted on the visitor before he is permitted to move to the second gate where he is screened with a scanner. If under arrest, then no gate formality may be necessary. During military rule, the secret service gained notoriety for its Gestapo tactics and rough handling of opponents of the junta. But the agency under its current leadership has refined its operations, especially the way it handles suspects and those invited for routine chats on national security issues. Terror suspects and kidnappers are not treated with the same kid gloves, but they are not denied the rights to a full stomach. The suspects that have been paraded before journalists look well fed, robust and were dressed in clean clothes. A passer-by may not spare the SSS headquarters a casual glance, but the attempted jail-break by some Boko Haram suspects last Sunday has however brought the building under national limelight and public scrutiny. The incident also brought to the fore the risks to which the average security personnel is exposed to in the course of duty. It has also raised questions about how the terror suspects were able to execute the plot without internal or external collaboration. Those that have been in the cells of the Yellow House know that breaking out of the facility is not easy. The service is known for following own laid down procedures regardless of the personalities involved. Our correspondent gathered that the Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, got a taste of the agency’s ‘rigid civility’ when he accompanied the Interim Deputy Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Malam Nasir el-Rufai to the SSS headquarters on January 27,2014. The former FCT minister was invited for allegedly making an inflammatory statement which the security agency frowned on. After playing hide and seek with the SSS for three days, el-Rufai showed up at the SSS headquarters accompanied by Amaechi and Senator Chris Ngige. On getting to the first SSS checkpoint, the occupants of the Range Rover SUV driven by Amaechi were asked to identify themselves and their mission at the Yellow House. According to a senior official of the service, el-Rufai and Ngige identified themselves, but Amaechi kept quiet, prompting one of the operatives to ask el-Rufai to identify his “driver”, a pejorative that angered Amaechi who replied angrily that he was a governor and not a driver. The source who pleaded anonymity said, “The operatives then informed the three men that they had to park their car and walk down to the office because we don’t allow visitors to drive into our premises. The three men were forced to trek a few kilometres to the gate and on being allowed to enter the compound, the men at the reception asked them to fill the visitors’ book and wait for their tags, but Amaechi got angry and said he is a state governor with immunity and he won’t wear a tag. He left in anger, but Ngige was very calm about the whole matter.”