APO KILLINGS: NIGERIAN ARMY, SSS, EXTRAJUDICIALLY KILL 7, THEN LABEL THEM BOKO HARAM The Department of State Security, SSS, and the Nigerian Army schemed to cover-up their atrocity after their personnel extrajudicially killed at least seven innocent men and wounded several others, residents of Apo area of Abuja, where the incident took place, said on Friday. The security officials stormed a street located behind Zone E of the Apo Legislative Quarters in the early hours of Friday, went straight to an uncompleted building inhabited by homeless artisans and petty traders and immediately began shooting at random, killing at least seven and injuring 17 others, witnesses said. The operatives then claimed the men were killed in a shootout with Boko Haram insurgents. The injured, most of them shot on their backs, have since been admitted to the Asokoro General Hospital where they are being treated for gunshot wounds. One of the injured, Ibrahim Danladi, a 20 year old satchet water seller, told PREMIUM TIMES at the hospital that it was untrue that anyone engaged the rampaging soldiers in a shootout. “We are no Boko Haram,” he said as he writhed in pain. “I sell pure water and none of us are Boko Haram. The soldiers just arrived suddenly and started shooting at us.” While news of the killings and pictures of the deceased spread on social media on Friday morning, the SSS released a statement saying its officials acted based on information obtained from two Boko Haram suspects, Kamal Abdullahi and Mohammed Adamu, who it claimed had earlier been arrested for terrorist activities. “They led the security team to the uncompleted building where arms were purported to have been buried underground,” Marilyn Ogar, the SSS spokesperson said in the statement. “No sooner had the team commenced digging for the arms than they came under heavy gunfire attack by other Boko Haram elements within the area.” The statement said the security team responded immediately. “As a result, some persons were injured while 12 others were arrested in connection with the incident and are making useful statements,’’ Ms. Ogar added. But several witnesses and residents of the area have debunked the claim by the SSS. All those interviewed by PREMIUM TIMES said no one shot at the security team that stormed the building. The team shot at unarmed residents, killing them instantly and then hung the Boko Haram tag on them, residents say. The House Building where killings took place When PREMIUM TIMES visited the area on Friday, residents said the few uncompleted houses in the street were usually occupied by homeless artisans, petty traders and commercial tricycle operators. Unable to afford the excessively high cost of housing in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, these squatters usually gather in scores to sleep on mats in the few uncompleted buildings on the street, after returning from their daily jobs. “The keke-napep (tricycle) men that stay in the house (where the shooting occurred) are almost 100,” Abu, a construction worker in another uncompleted building on the street, told PREMIUM TIMES. ”Apart from keke-napep, some also sell recharge cards act as phone chargers on the street.”
Posted on: Sat, 21 Sep 2013 05:16:43 +0000
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