Apo Killing: No Case Of Extra-judicial Killing - Senate

The Senate on Wednesday said the killing of eight people and wounding of eleven others in an uncompleted building in Apo, Abuja by security agents was not a case of extra-judicial killing,  but the outcome of hastily executed operation.

Again, It confimed the existence of a Boko Haram cell in Abuja, planning to carry out terrorist activities in the area.

This was contained in the findings and observations of the report of the 20-member Senate Joint Committee on National Security and Intelligence and Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters on the investigation into the early morning "shoot-out" between alleged "terrorists" 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.

According to the report, Mr. Adekunle Salisu, owner of the uncompleted building in Apo where the incidence occurred informed the committee that the property belonged to his mother, Oluwole Aduni, the only sister to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, but that the property was being managed by him.

The Senate report confirmed the spread of Boko Haram to the southern parts 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 Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as was evident in arrests of over fifty (50) terrorists across 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 was most active.

"Reports confirmed increased activities of suspected Boko Haram Terrorists (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, Keke NAPEP riding, and selling of water, shoe shining and others operating as taxis drivers in Abuja," the report said.

Ihejirika said that so far, not less than twenty criminals had 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 a search operation of 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, 2013, but disrupted by the security raid of Apo incidence.

"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.

Source: http://leadership.ng/news/281113/apo-killing-no-case-extra-judicial-killing-senate