Abuja DSS attack

The Abuja DSS attack was a coordinated terrorist attack by the Islamic group Boko Haram on the Department of State Security, Abuja on 31 March 2014 in a bid to escape from detention.[1] This resulted in the death of 21 insurgents who attempted to escape leaving 2 security personnel severely injured.[2]

Abuja DSS Attack
Part of Islamist insurgency in Nigeria
LocationAbuja, FCT, Nigeria
Date31 March 2014
TargetDepartment of State Security, Abuja
Attack type
Prison escape
Deaths21
Injured2
PerpetratorsBoko Haram
No. of participants
Unknown
Defenders0

Incident

The incident occurred on Sunday 31 March 2014 in the morning, when one of the service suspect handler went to the detention to serve their breakfast.[3] In a bid to return to his office, he was disarmed by one of the insurgents who hit him on the head with his handcuff in an attempt to escape.[4] This incessant action drew the attention of the armed guards who shot in the air to stop them.[2] This effort was futile until the army officers came in to suppress the uprising.[5] Twenty-one prisoners were killed by the military personnel and two government officials were seriously injured.[6]

Reactions

After the attack, there was a controversy over the death of the 21 prisoners who died in the process of the attack,[7] because some innocent prisoners might have been killed by the soldiers who labeled them as Boko haram.[8] This assumption was based on the New York Times publications of the Amnesty International report that alleges malicious killing of about 600 unarmed,[9] rearrested escapees who had been earlier freed when Boko haram attacked the Giwa military barracks in Maiduguri.[10] The Amnesty International report was based on an eye-witness account of the Nigerian soldiers' killing of the innocent rearrested prisoners that was freed by Boko haram during the Giwa military barracks attack.[11] The eye-witness said: "The former detainees were in a classroom. They started screaming 'we are not Boko Haram. We are detainees!’ My neighbours and I saw the soldiers take the men to a place called 'no man's land,’ behind the University of Maiduguri. We watched as the soldiers opened fire killing all 56. They were killed in front of us. All of them", according to the New York Times.[12]

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See also

References
  1. "DSS foils attempted jail break at its headquarter in Abuja". Vanguard News. 20 February 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  2. "Abuja Boko Haram Jailbreak: SSS Confirms 21 Casualties". Sahara Reporters. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  3. "DSS foils attempted jail break at its headquarter in Abuja". Vanguard News. 20 February 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  4. "20 Boko Haram suspects killed in Abuja DSS attack". Vanguard News. 20 February 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  5. "21 die in Abuja attempted jailbreak - DSS". Nigeria. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  6. Mikail Mumuni; Cyril Mbah; Kola Olawoyin. "21 die as SSS foils Boko Haram Abuja jailbreak". Newswatch Times. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  7. "Boko Haram Giwa barracks attack: Nigerian army 'killed hundreds'". BBC News. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  8. "Amnesty International Accuses Nigerian Military of Committing War Crimes, Claims Videos Show Abuses (GRAPHIC VIDEO)". HuffPost. 5 August 2014. Archived from the original on 28 December 2014. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  9. "Abuja DSS Jailbreak: The Truth Behind It Exposed By New York Times". OsunDefender. Archived from the original on 28 December 2014. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  10. "Amnesty International: 1,500 Nigerians Killed in Boko Haram Violence in 2014". VOA. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  11. Jack Moore. "Nigeria Army 'Killed Hundreds' After Boko Haram Barracks Attack - Amnesty International". International Business Times UK. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  12. "16 men arrested by Nigeria soldiers 'found dead with bullet wounds'". Times LIVE. Agence France-Presse. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
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