Apo killings reverberate in the Senate

The killing of about nine persons in an uncompleted building behind the Apo Legislative Quarters, Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, on Friday, September 20, has since become a controversial issue.

Even as some people have commended the operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS, who, alongside the army, were responsible for the killing for acting on time to avert catastrophe as the DSS claimed that the victims were members of Boko Haram, many others, including human right activists, allege that the circumstance of the killings was suspect.

The Abuja traders association has vowed to drag the security service to court as it claims that those killed were its members and ‘innocent’ citizens. The leadership of operators of tricycle popularly known as ‘KEKE NAPEP’ which the victims were said to belong also debunked the security claims that they were members of Boko Haram.

To the fiery President of Civil Rights Congress, Shehu Sani, the action of the DSS was extra-judicial killing while the Nigerian Consultative Youth Assembly described the way in which the victims were murdered as unprofessional.
With these angry reactions from the public, the stage was set for the Senate, last Tuesday, to take a look at what happened.

To commence deliberation on the matter, the representative of Zamfara North in the Senate, Senator Sahabi Ya’au, in a motion on point of order, alleged that security forces on the said date killed ‘innocent’ people that they were supposed to protect.

Ya’au of All Progressive Congress, APC, in the motion, noted with dismay the shooting that occurred in the uncompleted building on Soji Aderemi Close, Bamanga Tukur Street of the Apo Legislative Quarters, Abuja.

He noted that majority of the dead victims and about 16 persons that sustained various degrees of serious injuries were indigenes of Zamfara, Katsina and Kano states, adding that though the DSS claimed that the victims were members of Boko Haram, it (DSS) also claimed that the operatives of the Service were attacked by sympathizers of the sect when they went to exhume weapons buried in the uncompleted building.

Dead bodies of the victims being driven away from uncompleted building near Apo Legislative quarters in Abuja . 

He noted: “Survivors and eye witnesses claimed that the Keke NAPEP operators and other artisans were only squatters in the property who pay N200 daily to enable them sleep in the uncompleted building and had been instructed to vacate the property by the owner.

“Note that the eye witness further claimed that the mid-night operation went horribly wrong when eight of the squatters were shot dead by the combined teams of DSS operatives and the army in an orgy of unrestrained shootings.”

The senator said that it was believed that the accounts as were expressed and the claims had raised serious issues of human rights and the use of Nigerian’s security services to settle personal scores and therefore needed to be further investigated by an independent body to unearth the circumstances and facts behind the killings.

He called for the Senate condemnation of the DSS action, and to mandate its Committees on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, National Security and Intelligence, Defence and Army and Police Affairs to investigate the circumstances that led to the killings.

To Senator Claver Ikisikpo, PDP Bayelsa East, most of the lawmakers living around the area where the incident took place did not sleep on the night it happened and were scared. He noted that the Constitution says that everybody has the right to live and that whatever might have been the reason the victims were killed by soldiers or the DSS, it was uncalled for.

He pointed out that there is a law in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, that nobody should live in an uncompleted building for more than two years, stressing that if the law was adhered to strictly, perhaps the incident would not have happened.

The Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, however, had a different position. He said that it was a sensitive matter which involved human lives and that it was not fair to go deep into it at the floor of the Senate immediately as a result of the tensed political climate of the country and suggested that deliberations on the matter should be suspended and be referred to the appropriate Committees.

Also contributing, Senator Sadiq Yar’Adua, APC, Katsina, said that, over time, the nation’s laws were being violated by those assigned to protect the people and that, while the Senate opposed terrorism, nobody was given the license to kill innocent people because he was waging war against terrorism.

“If we do not take action on this, one day some of our enemies will tell the police or the DSS that there are terrorists in this chamber. We have the law against terrorism, but nobody has been prosecuted and brought to book. It is time for us to tell our security officials, we give them support but enough is enough.”

Senator Nkechi Nworgu, Abia Central said it would be hasty to condemn the action of the security agents without carrying out in-depth investigations.

The senator representing Borno South, Ali Ndume, PDP, noted that Abuja was no longer safe with the development and described the incident as unfortunate and sensitive as it bordered on national security.

Senator Mohammed Saleh, Kaduna Central, said he was worried about the way security agents have been carrying out their duties. He said a lot of money is being voted for security agencies not only in the provision of weapon but also for training of officers.

He said operatives of DSS should be made up of undercover agents working secretly, regretting that what the nation now has is operatives that openly carry arms. He advised that the DSS should revert to their constitutional role of covert operations.

Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, SAN, Cross River Central, cautioned senators over their positions on the issue as he stated that it was a difficult time for the country and the global community as there were threats of attack to be carried out before the Apo incident and the attack of a mall in Kenya as well as the one in Pakistan.

Ndoma-Egba advised his colleagues not to draw conclusion on the matter yet pending the outcome of investigation as drawing conclusion could prejudice its outcome and supported the suggestion that it should be subjected to investigation.

The Senate mandated its Committees on National Security and Intelligence, legal Matters, Judiciary and Human Rights to investigate the killings.

While referring the motion to the appropriate Committees, Senate President, Senator David Mark, said the relevant committees should unravel what led to the killings adding that there were three issues already playing up that needed to be investigated.

The Committees were mandated to investigate and report within two weeks whether what happened was an act of terrorism as alleged by the security agencies and whether it was extra-judicial killings and the reason behind the incident.