The unfinished building where security forces killed at least
seven squatters Friday, September 20, in the Apo neighbourhood of Abuja,
belongs to Mrs. Adunni Oluwole Salisu, believed to be the sister to
former President Olusegun Obasanjo, a PREMIUM TIMES investigation has
revealed.
Documents from the Abuja Geographical Information Systems (AGIS)
shows that the property, located at No. 8 Bamanga Tukur Street, Gudu
District, near the Gudu cemetery, belongs to Mrs. Salisu.
Ownership details of property OG247326, point unmistakably to Mrs.
Salisu's land rights, but neither her, nor the former president, could
be reached for comment; although authoritative family sources confirmed
the ownership and the relationship.
The Gudu killings have pitched the Nigerian human rights community
against anti-terrorist campaigners in a bitter debate about the
threshold of caution that security forces on anti-terror missions ought
to uphold where the insurgency is generally armed, and have demonstrated
maximum capability for ruthless murder and violence.
Soldiers and SSS officials, spurred by intelligence reports that a
sleeper cell of Boko Haram insurgents, embedded in the Gudu
neighbourhood, were about to strike again in Abuja, pre-emtorily stormed
the building inhabited by squatters, mostly tricycles drivers, petty
traders and artisans, in the early hours of Friday, killing at least
seven and leaving several injured.
A spokesman for the tricycle association angrily lambasted security
officials on Channels TV, in an interview Monday, claiming that "because
two or three Boko Haram people were in the building offers no excuse to
kill innocent people."
Security forces have been in anxious alert after the Boko Haram
insurgents scored a string of deadly success in missions that targeted
This Day newspaper office, the United Nations office, the Force
Headquarters of the Nigeria Police, and the Anti-Robbery Squad
headquarters of the Police- all in Abuja. The sect has also visited
punishing attacks on neighbourhood churches killing scores of
worshipers.
PREMIUM TIMES gathered, within intelligence sources, Tuesday, that a
mood of panic alert in the security community was what precipitated the
Apo killings also thought to be "quite frankly an operational failure,"
underscoring, top operatives disclosed to PREMIUM TIMES, "the imperative
for deeper and specialized human rights training for agents on
anti-insurgency mission."
Residents claim a representative of the owner of the house had given the squatters a week notice to vacate the property.
The squatters were killed before the expiration of the notice. Most
of the dead and wounded were shot in the back, execution style.
It is not known yet whether Mr. Obasanjo played any role in that tragic eviction operation.
Meanwhile, multiple security sources have told this paper that the
SSS had released most of the squatters arrested at the building after it
was unable to link them to any terrorist activities.
News of the release of the squatters came just as the Nigerian
Senate, the Police and the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC,
promised to investigate the killings.
Chairman of the NHRC, Chidi Odinkalu, told PREMIUM TIMES it was essential to investigate and verify the death of the squatters.
"The facts of this matter should be dispassionately verified," Mr.
Odinkalu said. "That is an obligation everybody must take seriously."
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