One of the two Department of State Service, DSS, officers shot by Boko Haram terrorists in attempted jailbreak at the agency’s headquarters, last Sunday, may be flown abroad for medical attention.
This came as details of how the terrorists attacked the security agency began to unfold, yesterday, just as the agency moved to unravel the cause of the uprising.
The development also forced the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, NUP, to cancel its planned nationwide protest over exclusion in the ongoing national conference.
There were fears, yesterday, that the gun injury of the operative shot in the back, may affect his spinal cord and render him incapacitated, if not properly treated.
Although the two men have not died, they were reportedly seriously injured by the terrorists.
DSS Deputy Director in charge of Public Relations, Marilyn Ogar, told journalists, yesterday, that investigation had begun into the attack.
Following the quelling of the uprising in the DSS compound, the high security alert around the Villa and adjourning streets had been slightly relaxed.
However, the road leading to the DSS headquarters, which is opposite the Presidential Villa and the National Assembly, remained blocked, with traffic diverted to one lane.
The situation has remained the same since the bombing of some strategic institutions in Abuja by Boko Haram terrorists.
Investigation by Vanguard indicated that the Boko Haram detainees successfully disarmed three DSS operatives and used the seized rifles to fight the security men.
It was learnt that one of the Boko Haram terrorists, who first seized a gun from a DSS operative, shot him on the back while the other two also snatched two rifles from unsuspecting DSS men.
The three men were said to have used the seized guns to engage DSS personnel in a duel, while more and more detainees fled from their cells.
As the convicted detainees escaped from their cells, they hid themselves in different locations in the vast compound.
Others made desperate attempts to scale the fence of the security facility with a view to escaping, but were hindered by heavy barricade in and around the premises.
Vanguard learnt that sustained shooting within the building compelled DSS to mobilise its men from within and around the city to repel the attack.
Soldiers from nearby formations were also called in to salvage the alarming confrontation by the terrorists.
It was gathered that the terrorists were overpowered by the combined team of soldiers and DSS men, whose confrontation with the terrorists led to the death of 21 of the detainees.
Meanwhile, the attack at the DSS headquarters has forced the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, NUP, to cancel its planned nationwide protest over exclusion in the ongoing national conference.
The union, however, vowed to embark on the protest that would involve Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC and the Trade Union Congress, TUC, as soon as situation returned to normalcy.
Speaking to newsmen at Labour House, Abuja, National President of NUP, Mr. Abel Afolayan, said retired civil servants in the country had been sidelined and subjected to untold hardship by the government.
He said the union had planned to stage a protest to press home its demands, but had to take into consideration the volatile security situation in the country, after the attempted jailbreak by the Boko Haram insurgents and decided to put on hold the planned protest so as not to give room for hoodlums to hijack the protest.
Apart from the non-inclusion of its members in the ongoing national conference, the union also lamented the non-payment of outstanding arrears of pension gratuity due federal and state pensioners with federal shares.
NUP also frowned on the discriminatory payment of 33 per cent of outstanding pension increase and its arrears which it alleged had been implemented for military pensioners months ago but still remained unimplemented for civil pensioners.
Though NUP chronicled many of its grievances, including the disregard for President Goodluck Jonathan’s directives that all the pressing problems and grievances of pensioners be looked into and solved expeditiously.
The union noted with dismay that the meeting it used to have in the office of the Secretary to the Federal Government, SGF, to resolve issues had been suspended.
NUP stated that its numerical strength was about five million who are eligible voters with about five more dependants for every member also qualified to vote, thereby making it about 25 million votes from the union, stressing that for any government to neglect the members was doing it on its own peril.
Afolayan said: “Government should be told that civil pensioners in Nigeria (about five million) form a large voting block and to neglect us is not in the best interest of either the Federal or the state governments.”
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