The Commander of the Brigade of Guards, Major General Emmanuel Atewe, while insisting that the uncompleted building in Apo area of Abuja, which was raided by security operatives had indeed been occupied by members of the Boko Haram sect, has also expressed regrets over the killing of civilians during the raid.
Over three months after a team of security agents raided an uncompleted building in Apo area of Abuja, security agents are yet to recover ammunition which led to the killing of eleven squatters.
At the public hearing by the National Human Rights Commission to examine the incident, the Army commander explained why the security operatives made the decision to raid the building and how they went about it.
The hearing was in continuation of an investigation by the National Human Rights Commission, into the death of eight people when the combined team of the Army and State Security Service raided the uncompleted building.
The panel, presided over by the Chairman of the Governing Council of the NHRC, Professor Chidi Odinkalu, sought to find out if the operatives recovered the weapons which led to the raid in the first place. They also sought to know if the victims were members of the Boko Haram sect.
Representing the Chief of Army Staff, and giving a testimony on behalf of the Nigerian Army, Major General Emmanuel Atewe, said that a suspected Boko Haram member said to be living in the building is still at large.
“The Apo incident was unfortunate. The security agents acted proactively to prevent an incident which would have caused panic in Abuja.
“Our troops have no reason to kill anybody in covert operations; we always exercise restraint. The Apo incident was an isolated incident. Evidence abound that there were terrorists in the building,” he added.
While the National Human Rights Commission is still investigating the incident, relations of the victims of the Apo killings have demanded that the Federal Government pay the sum of 500million Naira as compensation and offer a public apology that the victims were innocent and not members of the Boko Haram sect.
The killing has raised concerns about military operations in fighting terrorism.