…..Admits Boko Haram Cell in Abuja
…..Terrorists Target Shoprite, Senate President – DSS
BEVERLY HILLS, CA, November 28, (THEWILL) – The Senate on Wednesday declared that the there was no evidence to suggest that the killing of eight persons and injuring of 11 others in an uncompleted building in Apo, Abuja by security agents was a case of extra-judicial killing.
It however admitted that the operation was hastily executed.
Nonetheless, the lawmakers confirmed the existence of a Boko Haram cell in Abuja, which, according to it, planned to carry out terrorist activities in the Apo area.
These were the findings and observations of the 20-member Senate Joint Committee on National Security and Intelligence and Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters that probed the early morning “shoot-out” between alleged Boko Haram insurgents and security agents on September 20.
The report which was adopted on the floor of the Senate was submitted by Senator Mohammed Magoro (Kebbi/PDP) who chaired the joint committee.
In the report, one Mr. Adekunle Salisu, owner of the uncompleted building in Apo where the incident occurred, disclosed to the committee that the property belonged to his mother, Oluwole Aduni, the only sister to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, adding also that he presently manages the property.
That notwithstanding, the report confirmed the spread of Boko Haram in the southern part of the country.
“In the last two to three months, activities of Boko Haram Terrorists (BHT) have spread to other states of the federation including the FCT as was evident in arrests of over 50 terrorists in Cross River, Edo, Ogun, Rivers, Sokoto and Zamfara States,” the Senate report stated in reference to testimonies by the Chief Of Army Staff (COAS) Lt. General Azubuike Ihejirika.
The relocation, Ihejirika said, was a consequence of the pressure of the military operations on the terrorists in the North East, particularly Borno State where the sect is most active.
“Reports confirmed increased activities of suspected Boko Haram Terrorist (BHT), in certain places within and around Abuja, including Apo, Karu, Mararaba and Suleja areas and that reports further confirmed that suspected Boko Haram members fleeing Borno State and other parts of the North East frequent uncompleted buildings in the capital city from where they engage in menial jobs such as hawking, riding Keke NAPEP , and selling water, shoe shining and others as well as operating as taxis drivers in Abuja.
Ihejirika said so far, not less than 20 criminals have been arrested in Abuja in the last one month, with majority of them confirmed to be Boko Haram members. He said information obtained from the suspects led to the subsequent operations, including the September 20 operation in Apo.
He said based on electronic intercepts by the Department of State Services (DSS), which indicated that a plot to attack the FCT was imminent, operatives supported by the Guards Brigades troops conducted the search operation on September 20.
The Director General of DSS, Mr. Ita Ekpeyoung , in his submission to the committee stated that it could not be ruled out that the Shoprite Shopping Mall, Abuja could have been the target of a Boko Haram attack which was scheduled for Sunday, September 22, but was disrupted by the security raid of the Apo building .
“This is more so as the raided Boko Haram hideout is within the same Apo vicinity as Shoprite Shopping Mall…given the penchant of the sect for sensationalism; it was not unlikely that the residence of the Senate President, which is not far from the raided hideout, could have been a target of attack,” the Senate report quoted the DSS DG.
The Senate however approved all the five recommendations of the committee, one of which was to urge governments at all levels to tackle the problem of youth unemployment by creating programmes with focus on self employment.
It also encouraged the Federal Government to continue to do all within its powers to defeat Boko Haram.
The Senate further called on the Federal Government to urge the security agencies to supervise more closely security operations at the tactical level.
Meanwhile, the report caused a sharp division among Senators at plenary.
A member of the committee, Senator Sani Saleh (Kaduna/APC) dissociated himself from the report on grounds that the committee deviated from its terms of reference.
Saleh, a retired army general, said the committee’s mandate was to ascertain whether the military engaged in extra-judicial killing during the operation or not. Again, Saleh told Senators that the military operation which led to the killing of eight persons did not conform with laid down standards of military tactics during such operations.
“I stand to dissociate myself from this report. This report from the outset digressed from the task given to us. As senators, we hold the trust of the people, the committee digressed from the task given to it. The report was discussing anti terrorism, the operation carried out is not consistent with military ethics, it was not a cordon and search operation, it was irresponsible, it does not conform to any known military operations, the operations that day did not take care of the safety of civilians
“The operation that day was irresponsible. It did not take care of civilian safety and did not conform to any known military standard of operation,” he said.
Similarly, Sen. Sahabi Y’au (Zamfara/PDP) also accused the committee of failing to establish whether those killed were indeed Boko Haram insurgents.
“The crucial aspect of my motion has not been addressed which is whether the people killed were members of Boko Haram.
“I would like to know the stand of this Senate on the eight people killed,” he declared.
The Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba SAN (Cross River/PDP) accused Saleh of “ambushing” the Senate with an oral minority report opposing the report instead of a written statement to the committee as required by Senate rules.
He said the findings of the committee confirmed that there was reasonable cause for the security agencies to take action to prevent a potential threat of terrorism attack by insurgents.
“The conclusions reached by the committee can be justified by the findings of the committee.
“As a member of the committee, he (Saleh) should have availed us with a written document but what he did was to ambush the rest of us with his comments,” Ndoma-Egba added.
Sen. Suleiman Adokwe (Nasarawa/PDP), a member of the committee, spoke in the same vein.
“Saleh was not at the final meeting of the committee but he sent a written contribution. I find it unfair for him (Saleh) to portray other members of the committee as irresponsible.
“This accusation is a dent on our integrity and an attempt to paint the committee in bad light,” he said.
Sen. George Sekibo (Rivers/PDP) said the committee’s findings revealed evidence of the existence of terrorist threat in Abuja.
“The fundamental thing is that there is evidence of insurgents in Abuja and we must therefore work hard to stop their activities in every part of the country.
“The FCDA should be directed to pay attention to monitor uncompleted buildings to check any abuse of such properties by undesirable elements, ” he advised.
Sen. James Manager (Delta/PDP) urged Nigerians to be fair in their criticism of the security personnel working to combat terrorism and other criminal activities.
“This clampdown on insurgency is not an easy task. These lives of our security operatives should be valuable to us since they are humans too.
“Their lives are endangered as they go about protecting the rest of the citizens. So, we must learn to value their lives, ” he stressed.
Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu , who presided over the plenary concluded that if 18 out of the 20 members of the committee agreed with the report, it showed that there was no bias in it.
“The issue of extra-judicial killing or not sounds to me as judgmental, only a court of competence jurisdiction or a quasi-judicial process can come to that kind of conclusion,” he said.
EMMA UCHE, ABUJA
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