How SSS Killed My Innocent Son In Apo.Abuja

As widespread condemnation continues to trail the killing of seven young men in what looks like a reminiscence of the infamous Apo 6 in Abuja, it is becoming apparent that the security forces involved in the recent killings in Apo, FCT,  might have only succeeded in killing the wrong people.

   A father of one the victims of the gruesome killing, Mallam Abdullahi Funtua, has opened up on what he called the cold-blooded murder of his child, Muhammad Mashkur by security forces in Apo last Friday, saying he would never forget the government of President Goodluck Jonathan under whose watch his family’s breadwinner was cut down for no just cause.

The 65-year-old father of Mashkur exclusively spoke in his house located at Gangaren Rafin Mai Wake area of Filin Kwallo in Funtua local government of Katsina State on Sunday night.

Abdullahi was in the midst of family members and sympathizers when our reporter visited. While intermittent prayers were still being offered for the repose of the soul of the deceased, sympathizers and family members continued to lament the hazy circumstances in which life was snuffed out from seven young men.

A civil right activist, Rabiu Umar Maska, of the Pan-African Development Education Advocay Programme (PADEAP-Nigeria), who was among the sympathisers, said the killing is one atrocity too many by security men in Nigeria, and called on government to leave no stone unturned in bringing the culprits to book.

According to his father, Mashkur was 21-year-old SS2 student, who had only gone to Abuja to work and gather money for his final year exams. He was introduced to the business of tricycle driving about six months ago when an acquaintance took him to the FCT.

 “My son has never seen what a Boko Haram member looks like, even in photograph. He only went to Abuja to eke out a living and now they have murdered him. I will never forget the government of Goodluck Jonathan for depriving me of my son. They have cheated me,” the father said amid intermittent sobs.

The remains of Mashkur and two others, who were all Keke NAPEP operators, were brought to Funtua on Saturday. The two other dead bodies were en route the neighbouring Bakori, their hometown.

Mashkur body, which was immediately prepared for burial, was said to be riddled with bullets with his head completely smashed.

The victims were killed in a Friday dawn raid by gunmen believed to be military men allegedly on the orders of an army general, who is the owner of the uncompleted building they were occupying situated behind Apo Legislative Quarters, in the wee hours of last Friday. Many sustained injuries while others were reportedly missing.

As at the time the FCT police command said it was still investigating the attack, the spokesman for the Department for State Security (DSS), Ms Marilyn Ogar had brazenly admitted that the DSS carried the operation. In a bizarre explanation, Ogar said the SSS got wind of the Boko Haram hideout in Apo following a tip-off by two of the sect’s members who were in their custody. She added that when the operatives stormed the hideout and were combing the place for weapons, the insurgents opened fire on them. In the exchange of gunfire that ensued, seven of the insurgents were wounded.

Many still wonder that up till now, no weapon supposedly buried in the said location as claimed by the DSSS has been found as none has been shown to the public. The DSS has also failed to explain to the public why the dead bodies of the alleged Boko Haram members were immediately released to their respective families for burial.