Following the shooting incident at the Apo legislative quarters in Abuja on Friday morning, former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has called for an independent investigation by the country’s legislature, the judiciary or civil society to ascertain the reason behind the incident .
He said that Nigerians deserve to know the truth behind the incident in which nine persons were killed with 16 others injured.
The shoot-out, involving men of the Nigerian Army and State Security Service (SSS) occurred in the early hours of Friday morning.
While security agents claimed that occupants of the uncompleted building were members of the insurgent group, Boko Haram, those injured in the attack maintained they were law abiding citizens.
In a statement by his media office on Saturday, Atiku said he was worried about the incident.
“For me, this issue borders on human rights, the rule of law and the sanctity of human life. Our security services should stick to their role under the Constitution: make the country safe.” he said.
He said while every citizen should support the government’s efforts to counter terrorism and defeat it, allegations of abuses and extra-judicial killings must not be swept under the carpet.
The former Vice President decried the tendency of security agencies to profile certain Nigerians, in spite of constant denials to the contrary, saying that terrorist profiling was a fact of life today in Nigeria.
He recalled that in 2006, it was the riots by Igbo traders in the Federal Capital Territory to force the government at that time to investigate, arrest and charge police officers that allegedly killed six Igbo traders they branded as armed robbers.
“There must be an independent investigation into this incident to insure human rights and the rule of law. Things don’t have to get to this sorry pass,” Atiku cautioned authorities.
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