Facts have started to emerge as to what may have led to the Sunday attempted jail break by members of the dreaded Islamic group, Boko Haram detained at the Department of State Service (DSS) in Abuja.
According to a competent source in the department in a telephone interview, some 17 members of the insurgent group have spent over six months in DSS cell without appearance in court or their charges read to them.
The source said it might have been out of frustration that members of the sect vented their anger on the operatives of the DSS.
“Some of them have been in our cell for over six months and have never been told why they are here, neither have they been charged to court, not even once and they have been shouting from the cell that they want to appear in court or if authority does not find anything incriminating on them, they should be allowed to go home, so it is frustration that might have made them do it.”
However, there were indications that plans were on the way to cause appearance of the affected Boko Haram members yesterday in court before they took up arms against operatives of DSS on Sunday.
Though another version has it that, there was a “powerful” Boko Haram financier that was brought into the cell and as the suspect was about to be ushered into his cell, that was when the attack started. “They brought in a top member of the sect, in fact he is one of the major financiers of the group and as they wanted to usher him into cell, other inmates attacked the DSS operatives.”
The source argued that, there was a need for the management of DSS to open up and tell Nigerians what went wrong there. “They should tell the truth, for instance, how many operatives were on duty at the time of the incident. How many guns did the sect use for the attack and where did they get it from. These are the questions they must give Nigerian answers.”
Meanwhile, security has been beefed up since Sunday at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, venue of a meeting of African ministers of finance and economy and other leaders, after the daring attack at the headquarters of the State Security Service which lies near the presidential villa.
Other strategic locations in the capital city also received increased security presence. The government said the attack which lasted nearly four hours, was a failed jail break attempt, but residents of the area have questioned that claim.
The residents say the official description of a handcuffed suspect overpowering an armed operative before engaging soldiers and SSS agents in a shootout for hours, did not explain the heavy weaponry and large number of troops drafted to the area, as well as the sustained period of attack.
A source said at the venue of the on-going African ministers meeting additional security personnel had been deployed to the hotel. The additional armed men, seen within the vicinity of the hotel, include soldiers, police and officers of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC). The armed men were supported by sniffer dogs as they took positions within and outside the hotel.
Security was also beefed up in and around military and other security offices in Abuja on Sunday following the attempted jail break. On the Shehu Shagari Road, where the Force Headquarters is located, the area had been barricaded with armoured personnel carrier, same for the Ministry of Defence, Area 10, Garki, Abuja, at the time of this report.
The entire vicinity of the presidential palace and the SSS headquarters has been cordoned off, making it impossible for journalists to do area assessment with a view to determining what actually happened. Members of the Islamic sect, Boko Haram on Sunday took up arms against operatives of the DSS in Abuja.
This would be the third high security formation in the FCT that members of the sect would attack. It would be recalled that 2010, the sect attacked the Nigeria Police Force Headquarters and the Federal Anti-Robbery Squad (FEDSARS) in Area 10 part of Abuja, killing scores of Policemen.
