Deputy Director, Public Relations, Department of State Services, Ms. Marylyn Ogar
Security
was beefed up around the Presidential Villa and other parts of Abuja
on Sunday morning as heavy shootings were recorded at the headquarters
of the State Security Service.
The SSS headquarters, known as Yellow House, is located behind the Villa.
The access gate to the Villa through the
Fire Service office in Asokoro was quickly shut while more heavily
armed soldiers were seen at the gate leading to the nation’s seat of
power through the Federal Secretariat.
Military helicopters were also seen hovering over the area.
The PUNCH learnt from a source
that trouble started when one of the suspects in the SSS custody,
believed to be a Boko Haram member, overpowered an operative who was
in his cell to deliver food to him.
The suspect was said to have shot the operative with a rifle and went ahead to release his co-suspects.
The source said, “An operative went to
give food to a suspect this (Sunday) morning. The suspect was not
properly chained, so he pushed down the operative and quickly
dispossessed him of his rifle and shot him.
“He quickly released his co-inmates who started escaping with some scaling the fence.”
The incident led to a gun battle between the suspects and the SSS operatives.
It was learnt that in the process, 21 suspects believed to be Boko Haram members, were killed while about 20 were re-arrested.
Two rifles were recovered from them while two SSS operatives were also said to have been critically injured.
The Deputy Director, Public
Relations, Department of State Services, Ms. Marylyn Ogar, confirmed
the shootings but did not give the identities of detainees who
attempted the jailbreak.
Ogar said in an electronic mail on
Sunday that a detainee struck one of the operatives handlers on the
back of his head with his handcuff.
She added that the attempt by the
detainee to escape made other SSS operatives on guard to fire shots to
prevent others from escaping from the facility.
According to her, the gunshots attracted
the attention of the military, which according to her, had an
understanding of mutual protection with the SSS in the event of any
threat.
Ogar said, “At 0715 hours, the service
suspect handler went to the detention facility within the headquarters
to give food to the suspects.
“One of the suspects attempted to disarm
him by hitting him at the back of his head with his handcuff. His
attempt to escape drew the attention of other guards at the facility who
fired some shots to warn and deter others.
“The Army immediately deployed a team to
reinforce our perimeter guards to forestall any external collaborators.
The situation has since been brought under control.”
She explained in another statement
later on Sunday, that the roads leading to the headquarters of the SSS
were initially cordoned off to prevent a possible assistance from
“external collaborators.”
According to her, the entire neighbourhood was thoroughly searched after which the roads were open to the public.
The SSS spokesperson restated the determination of the service to continue to ensure the safety of Nigeria and its citizenry.
However, as of the time of filing this
report, security operatives were still combing the thick bush that
surrounds the Yellow House in search of the fleeing suspects.
Ogar, in her third statement on Sunday, said 21 people died during the incident.
But she did not indicate whether the dead were inmates or not.
She said, “Following our earlier
releases, it has been established that 18 casualties were recorded,
while two service personnel sustained serious injuries. Three other
detainees who sustained gunshot injuries during the incident have also
died.”
The SSS spokesperson said that investigation was still ongoing to ascertain the immediate and remote causes of the incident.
When the news of the incident spread, security was also quickly beefed up at the Nigeria Police Force headquarters in Area 11.
The NPF headquaters, known as Louis Edet House, is not too far from the Presidential Villa.
An Armoured Personnel Carrier was used
to completely block a lane on the road leading to the Federal
Secretariat with motorists driving one way.
In a bid to douse speculations that the
Presidential Villa was affected by the SSS headquarters’ shootings, the
Presidency said President Goodluck Jonathan was “safe and well.”
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, made the clarification on his Twitter handle.
“What happened at the SSS HQs has
nothing to do with the Villa. President Jonathan is safe and well. Thank
you for your concern and support,” Abati wrote.
The presidential spokesman further
explained that the incident at the SSS headquarters was an attempted
‘jailbreak’ that was foiled, adding that there was no cause for alarm.
“What happened at the SSS HQ this
(Sunday) morning was an attempted jailbreak which has been effectively
foiled. There is no cause for alarm,” he wrote.
PUNCH
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