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 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.
Another account
Another account of the incident had it that trouble started around 6 a.m. during the normal handing and taking over of duties by DSS detainees’ handlers.
Another account of the incident had it that trouble started around 6 a.m. during the normal handing and taking over of duties by DSS detainees’ handlers.
Vanguard learnt that the shoot-out
erupted when some of the suspected terrorists attempted to free their members
and leave the detention facility, which is by the precincts of the Presidential
Villa.
A competent source said as soon as
one handler opened the gate leading to the cell where the detainees were being
kept, 10 suspected terrorists rushed out, snatched the handler’s rifle and used
it to shoot at him.
Alerted by the attack, some DSS
handlers were reported to have retreated so as not to be killed by the
rampaging suspected terrorists. The source said after shooting the first
handler, the 10 suspected terrorists began to escape into different locations
within the massive security compound.
Alarmed by the effrontery of the
suspected terrorists, the DSS quickly deployed its men to quell the uprising,
resulting in heavy shooting that claimed the lives of some of the suspects.
Many DSS operatives and Boko Haram
detainees were also injured in the ensuing stampede.
The shot DSS operative, whose name
could not be immediately ascertained, was immediately rushed to an undisclosed
hospital. A source said the shot operative was in a critical condition but had
not died.
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