His words: “Actually, they have local arrangement with security guys there. Some used to give N100, some N200, depending on where they are living. Like in Asokoro, I heard they are giving N300. About four months ago , there was an incidence between these people, the occupants and the security. The Caretaker of the house took them to Apo Police Station. So, some of them came to my house and met me. They said they were given an ultimatum of one week to pack. Police came. So, I went to see the DPO but I didn’t see him. I left my card behind. The DPO came and saw my note, went and settled with them because I went back to my constituency.

”So, they continued paying the money. So, three weeks ago, some of them came and said that the landlord  asked them to vacate his place. I asked who was the man. They said he is a retired military officer. I asked what the security they paid  N200 said. They said they will settle. So, I said if there was anything, they should let me know. I even advised them to get a place in Durumi village, and  maybe three or four of them will be sleeping in one room.

So, they left. Before they left, I told them that if there is anything, they should let me know. So, when they didn’t come back, I felt there was nothing. And a day before the incident, somebody came and said, the land had threatened that this time around, he won’t call the Police or anybody. The neighbour said so. And if there is anything, the landlord should have taken action against his own security, not the innocent people that usually pay to sleep there.”

The shooting/ encounter with the Police
“But when I finished my prayer on Friday, I saw a text that an incident happened there. I wanted to go there but when I came out, I saw a lot of soldiers, military trucks and Hilux vans. So, I thought, it will be a mistake for me to just go there when I have heard everything that happened. I called somebody who told me they killed a lot of people. At first, they said they killed more that 50 people.

“I came home and tried to call the Commissioner of Police. But I couldn’t get his line. I called the AIG. He picked and I asked him if he knew about the shootings.

He said he knew about it. And with what he told me, I was so surprised that Police didn’t know about the operation. He asked me to go to the Commissioner of Police that he has just spoken to him. I went straight to the Commissioner.

We entered the office and he asked me to calm down, that his people were there. So, I was in his office when his people called that they were moving the corpses and people that were injured to Asokoro hospital. I immediately rushed to Asokoro. It was horrible. I met with CMD. We discussed.

The unknown Military General/landlord
“Later on, somebody came. I didn’t know who he was because I left for the mortuary from the emergency. Somebody called me and said someone came and offered to pay the medical bills for those that were injured. When I came, I met him entering his car with some soldiers following him.

I asked around and was told he offered to pay the bills. I asked to know who he was. Somebody said, it may be the landlord of the House. I said we don’t need anything from him. So, I started calling my colleagues. They came,  about four of us and we started to make arrangements of what to do. I tried to meet with this man. But he had already driven out with a military vehicle following him.”

They were not members of Boko Haram

“We identified the bodies through their ID cards. Some were shot in the head. There was Nura and  Muktahar…they were from my constituency. They were not Boko Haram members. The people that did the shooting know they were not. Look, usually, if there is Boko Haram incidence, the government demolishes or takes over the house. They would do this and that. Everyone knows how they operate.

SSS spokeswoman Marilyn Ogar

We saw how they operated in Kano , Zaria and even in the church; we knew how they operated  in Madallah here. Why is it that they didn’t do that in that uncompleted building? Because, the building  was owned by a retired General? I want to be sure of the name before saying it. But the name won’t hide. Definitely, it will come out someday.

Journey to DSS Headquarters

In a voice ladened with the bitterness, Nadabo recalled how he and his two colleague- lawmakers were also assaulted by the operatives of the DSS during an attempt to meet with the officials in their office for clarifications. But he said he was going to fight to get to unravel the mystery behind the death of his constituents.

The mai-Guard (local guard)
“He ran away. We have been trying to get to him. But all we know is that he is from Kaduna .”
The next line of action
“We have got most of our lawyers and human rights activists and the Youth Council of Nigeria. We can’t allow this to continue to happen.”

Yusuf Abubakar, A survivor tells his story

Saturday Vanguard also went to Asokoro General hospital during the week. There, Yusuf Abubakar, a survivor in the attack shared a pathetic story.

“I could remember that a human scavenger came into the uncompleted building with his sack over his shoulders, and was vandalizing some electric cables and most of the occupants were not around that time, which was about 8 pm. It was the security guard in the building who caught him and called the owner of the house.

The reply of the owner of the building was to order the security guard to inform us that all of us who were occupying the house should leave the place under one week or  he would deploy soldiers and to take serious action against us. This order was given on Wednesday last week, and on Friday, the owner of the building deployed armed soldiers  at about 12 midnight. After they arrived, they surrounded the building  and started shooting right inside the building, and we were over 200 occupants sleeping inside the building at that time.

“We were in total confusion and were running for our dear lives for safety and anyone who ran was gunned down by the soldiers.

The soldiers killed 18 of us, and we just lost one of us in the hospital today (Monday) out of the 13 that were brought to Asokoro General Hospital, while one of us was hospitalized at Wuse General Hospital.
Most of us were killed as a result of standing up, like myself, in the process of running out for safety, I fell and  was shot in my left hand.

I was wearing a white shirt which I removed and hid my myself somewhere. A soldier  with his rifle came very close to my side, I thought he saw me, but he rather shot and killed somebody who was running towards my direction. I am very sure it was one of the soldiers  who came for the attack but I cannot really tell how many they were.

“I am still carrying the bullet in my hand. The doctor only come to dress the injury and give me drugs and injection. One of the House of Representatives members from ZamfaraState provides food for us. I am from ZamfaraState ; I am a  commercial truck pusher at Garki Monday Market. People are just broadcasting that we are Boko Haram members which we are not. Rather, we are into keke NAPEP driving, commercial truck pushing, cobbling and selling of sachet water.”

My dead brother was a Keke Napep driver— Suleiman Adamu
No one would convince Sulieman Adamu that his brother was a member of the sect. All he knew was that his late brother was a tricycle (Keke Napep) driver.

He also shared his experience.“I was at Mabushi, where I received a call that my elder brother, Nasiru Adamu, was shot by some soldiers  who came to where he was living, and he was taken along with others injured in the same building at Apo, and brought to Asokoro GeneralHospital . He was  shot in the stomach and died this morning (Monday). He was married and had  a one-year old daughter. He was a keke NAPEP driver.”

Victims were mostly our members—Musa Ibrahim, Abuja Keke Napep Chairman

Also, in a chat with Abuja Keke NAPEP Chairman, Musa Ibrahim revealed that most of the victims were licensed Keke Napep Operators.“This morning, we had to take the remaining two bodies to the mortuary, although one of the bodies has been here in AsokoroHospital mortuary since Friday. We took seven bodies on the day the attack took place and returned them to their various states of origin. The body that was deposited at the mortuary was as a result of us not being able to get in touch with the family but we have now contacted the family. Meanwhile, we just lost another victim who was rushed to the hospital that Friday. His name was Nasiru Adamu, and he hails from Zamfara .

“The seven that were killed on that day were all our Keke NAPEP members. We issued identity them the cards they were having. They had lived in that uncompleted building for over two years and were paying N200 weekly to the security guard of the building who is the caretaker of the landlord. Even the owner of the building was aware that these people were living in house. He gave them an earlier notice, which was orally made,  to quit the house on Wednesday but that has not  expired before the attack.

“After the attack, there were no security operatives around the building. It was our members who even informed the nearest police station to come around. If those who were left in the building were actually Boko Haram, after committing the act they would have ran away, and also security agents who came there would have laid siege till day break.

“As we know, those who lost their lives and the survivors were not Boko Haram members. We want the federal government to thoroughly investigate the matter and punish whoever is behind this dastardly act, because it is not acceptable,” he said.

Condemnations

Nadabo is not the only Nigerian who is angry with the security operatives. Many others expressed their regrets and therefore called for a thorough investigation of the incident.   

There should be a probe —Comrade Yinka Odumakin-Public Affairs Analyst
There are two conflicting accounts of what happened in that place. The Department of State Security (DSS) has said they are Boko Haram suspects who were hiding arms in the place.

Odumakin

And there is another account that says that there was an Army General who was trying to evict squatters from his house that sent soldiers to go and kill those people. Whichever one it is, I think the lives of people cannot be taken like that without investigations. Extra judicial killing is pure murder and those who committed such acts must be fished out.

And we must know the truth even if it’s what the DSS alleged. I think extra judicial killing is not the solution. They should have been arrested, brought before the law and punished. But when you begin to do extra judicial killing, you are abridging the powers of the state and you are taking the lives of citizens. It is only the court that can pronounce a person guilty. Any other thing outside that is extra judicial and therefore, I actually support a probe of what actually transpired; how those people died so that we can know the truth and prevent such from occurring in the future if actually they were innocent citizens who were killed by security agencies.

The security agencies goofed— Afam Osigwe—Ex Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Federal Capital Territory , FCT, Branch

The story security agencies told is phony. From the initial media statement issued by the Police and the DSS, they said they got information that Boko Haram buried some arms there and they went to unearth it around 3 am. Now, I found it curious because it’s strange for security agents to want to go and dig up arms by that time of the night. I found that very curious.

To my mind, the normal thing would have been to secure the place pending that day break for them to carry out that operation. What I also found very curious in the whole report is that it is reported that the people who survived that attack and are receiving treatment at the hospital have bullet wounds at the back.

This is not indicative of people who are exchanging fires with security agents but people who were fleeing from the scene of shooting. When you receive bullet at the back, it means you are fleeing.