By SaharaReporters, New York
A coalition of civil society groups and members of Tricycle Operators (Keke NAPEP) Association, FCT branch, Monday besieged Asokoro General Hospital, Abuja, Nigeria's capital, to collect the remains of their colleagues who were killed by a combined team of soldiers and State Security Service (SSS) operatives last Friday in an uncompleted building at Apo Legislative Quarters, just as they vowed to protest the killings at the National Assembly Wednesday.
Some seven persons were said to have been killed during a raid by a combined team of soldiers and SSS operatives on an uncompleted building in Abuja believed to have been inhabited by suspected terrorists.
The group was led by the President, Civil Rights Congress and human rights activist, Shehu Sani, who condemned and described the killings as extra-judicial by the security agents in the name of fighting insurgency and terrorism.
He called for an independent panel of inquiry in order to bring the perpetrators of the dastardly act to book.
"Nigerians are saying no to the false narration and claims of the SSS because lives of these young Nigerians have been terminated for nothing. We heard that some of those who sustained injuries have died. That is why we are here to take some of the corpses to their homes. Nigerians demand justice and that is why the civil society would make sure that justice is done on this matter," he said.
According to him, "These people are Keke NAPEP riders; they are innocent Nigerians who are making a living through their menial jobs. We must put an end to the innocent killings because we cannot end the insurgency by killing innocent people as long as we give licence to the security agents to kill anyone in the name of insurgency, we are giving licence to impunity. There must be a full scale investigation into this killing and heads must roll in the hierarchy of our security agents."
He said the group would give the families of the victims its full support as it is planning to take the matter to the court.
Two survivors of the bloody onslaught who have been receiving treatment at the hospital were said to have died on Sunday night as a result of the injuries they sustained which brought the death toll to nine.
The President of Nigerian Youth Assembly, Comrade Nurudeen Mustapha, said the group would fight the matter to its logical conclusion.
He challenged the SSS to come up with evidence and proof that "these people are Boko Haram members".@
“We have met with the members of Keke NAPEP operators who survived the incident. They told us that the landlord came to the building and gave them one week ultimatum to pack out, but the next thing they saw was security agents coming in with patrol vans and started spraying them," Mustapha said.
He said the group would take to the streets Wednesday to protest the senseless killings by the security agency.
Chairman of Keke NAPEP Operators AMAC, Musa Ibrahim, told SaharaReporters that many of their members were still missing, adding that they could not ascertain if they have been killed or alive.
“As I am speaking to you now, many of our members could not be found, we have been looking for them since Friday but we don’t have any information on their whereabouts right now," he said.
A member of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tukur Idris, representing Daura and Dokori Federal Constituency of Katsina State was also at the hospital and told journalists that the victims were identified in the mortuary by their identity cards in their pockets as Keke NAPEP operators .
He said a petition had been sent to the Inspector General of Police, Human Rights Commission and a competent court of law has been notified. Two corpses were released to them and one was buried at Apo cemetery, while the other one was taken to DeiDei for burial.
A coalition of civil society groups and members of Tricycle Operators (Keke NAPEP) Association, FCT branch, Monday besieged Asokoro General Hospital, Abuja, Nigeria's capital, to collect the remains of their colleagues who were killed by a combined team of soldiers and State Security Service (SSS) operatives last Friday in an uncompleted building at Apo Legislative Quarters, just as they vowed to protest the killings at the National Assembly Wednesday.
Some seven persons were said to have been killed during a raid by a combined team of soldiers and SSS operatives on an uncompleted building in Abuja believed to have been inhabited by suspected terrorists.
The group was led by the President, Civil Rights Congress and human rights activist, Shehu Sani, who condemned and described the killings as extra-judicial by the security agents in the name of fighting insurgency and terrorism.
He called for an independent panel of inquiry in order to bring the perpetrators of the dastardly act to book.
"Nigerians are saying no to the false narration and claims of the SSS because lives of these young Nigerians have been terminated for nothing. We heard that some of those who sustained injuries have died. That is why we are here to take some of the corpses to their homes. Nigerians demand justice and that is why the civil society would make sure that justice is done on this matter," he said.
According to him, "These people are Keke NAPEP riders; they are innocent Nigerians who are making a living through their menial jobs. We must put an end to the innocent killings because we cannot end the insurgency by killing innocent people as long as we give licence to the security agents to kill anyone in the name of insurgency, we are giving licence to impunity. There must be a full scale investigation into this killing and heads must roll in the hierarchy of our security agents."
He said the group would give the families of the victims its full support as it is planning to take the matter to the court.
Two survivors of the bloody onslaught who have been receiving treatment at the hospital were said to have died on Sunday night as a result of the injuries they sustained which brought the death toll to nine.
The President of Nigerian Youth Assembly, Comrade Nurudeen Mustapha, said the group would fight the matter to its logical conclusion.
He challenged the SSS to come up with evidence and proof that "these people are Boko Haram members".@
“We have met with the members of Keke NAPEP operators who survived the incident. They told us that the landlord came to the building and gave them one week ultimatum to pack out, but the next thing they saw was security agents coming in with patrol vans and started spraying them," Mustapha said.
He said the group would take to the streets Wednesday to protest the senseless killings by the security agency.
Chairman of Keke NAPEP Operators AMAC, Musa Ibrahim, told SaharaReporters that many of their members were still missing, adding that they could not ascertain if they have been killed or alive.
“As I am speaking to you now, many of our members could not be found, we have been looking for them since Friday but we don’t have any information on their whereabouts right now," he said.
A member of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tukur Idris, representing Daura and Dokori Federal Constituency of Katsina State was also at the hospital and told journalists that the victims were identified in the mortuary by their identity cards in their pockets as Keke NAPEP operators .
He said a petition had been sent to the Inspector General of Police, Human Rights Commission and a competent court of law has been notified. Two corpses were released to them and one was buried at Apo cemetery, while the other one was taken to DeiDei for burial.
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