The incident which occurred at the headquarters of the State Security Service has left many Nigerians in shock as to how the bedrock of national security was left vulnerable to terrorists.
The shootout between security operatives and Boko Haram members which occurred yesterday morning is said to have claimed the lives of 21 militants while 2 SSS officers sustained injuries.
While there is no concrete account of how the attack began, most sources state that it was an attempted jailbreak.
According to statements made by the spokeswoman for the SSS, Marilyn Ogar:
"What happened was that the suspects’ handler went to feed the detainees but suddenly they attacked him with their handcuffs, disarmed him and started shooting."
"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 gun shot injuries during the incident have also died."
Vanguard reports:
According to a security source, one of the Boko Haram members told one of the DSS
guards that he was pressed and needed to go to the toilet.
The sect member’s request was obliged without being leg-chained. On getting to the toilet and finding the door locked, he applied force and uprooted the toilet seat unknown to the operative who was standing outside.
When the detainee knocked the door to indicate that he had finished, the DSS the operative opened the door, only to have his head smashed with the heavy toilet seat.
The operative was said to have collapsed. The sect member then collected the gun of the operative, went to the cell entrance and opened fire on the other operatives who were caught off-guard and set free many of his colleagues.
The source said it was the shooting at the DSS centre that alerted other operatives who mobilised to take on the sect members, leading to serious shoot-out between the terrorists and the operatives for over an hour before security was re-enforced and soldiers drafted to the scene.
It was learnt that the DSS, which is highly embarrassed by the incident, has begun investigation into why the detainees handler decided to go and open the cell gate alone without being accompanied by others, as is the standard practice.
According to the source, "the whole episode occurred between 6:30 am and 7am on Sunday during the normal hand-over and take-over of detainees.
"The standard rule is that you cannot go alone to open the gate leading to the detainees’ cell but as soon as the man opened the gate, he was attacked and he tried to run away and was shot. The shot operative has been taken to hospital."
The uprising led to the deployment of soldiers to the DSS Headquarters and around the Presidential Villa.
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