Death Toll From DSS Attempted Jailbreak Rises To 18, Boko Haram Detainee Allegedly Smuggled In Pistol
A
shootout at Nigeria’s State Security Services headquarters near the
presidential villa killed at least 18 people Sunday, a government
spokeswoman said of what appears to be an attempted jailbreak by Islamic
extremists.
Residents described shooting that went on for two hours Sunday morning.
Security services spokeswoman Marilyn Ogar
tried to minimize the event, saying it involved one detainee who tried
to disarm a guard by hitting him on the back of his head with his
handcuffs. Ogar’s statement said the only shots fired were warnings by
guards and soldiers who quickly deployed around the perimeter of the
compound, fearing collaborators from the outside.
Later Sunday Ogar reported 18 deaths — but did not specify if the fatalities included security agents and soldiers.
Residents described a shootout that began at about 7 a.m., when detainees are served breakfast, and continued until after 9 a.m.
“Whatever this is, it appears more serious
than an attempted jailbreak claimed by the SSS,” said a tweet posted by
Nasir El-Rufai, a former Cabinet minister who lives in the neighborhood.
He said there were
exchanges of gunfire and a helicopter gunship
hovering overhead.
“What I witnessed with my eyes and heard this
morning was a full-scale battle,” tweeted another former Cabinet
minister, Femi Fani-Kayode. He said he lives 50 meters (55 yards) from
the state security headquarters and the presidential villa called Aso
Rock.
Agents at the scene said a detainee received a
smuggled pistol along with his breakfast, and used it to shoot a guard
who had unlocked his handcuffs so he could eat. It was unclear if the
guard survived. The agents spoke on condition of anonymity because they
are not authorized to speak to reporters.
Jailbreaks are common in Nigeria, often aided
by corrupt officials. But not from the state security headquarters which
holds suspects of special interest including alleged fighters in the
northeastern Islamic uprising that has killed more than 1,000 people
this year.
That insurgency is led by the Boko Haram
terrorist network that on March 14 staged a daring jailbreak in an
attack on Giwa Barracks, the main military barracks in the northeastern
city of Maiduguri. Hundreds of detainees held at the barracks were
freed. The military said it killed hundreds of them. Hospital workers
said they counted 425 corpses at the morgue, the worst fatalities
recorded in the 4-year-old uprising.