That pathetic Senate report on the Apo 6

From the report of a committee appointed by the Senate to investigate alleged extra-judicial killing of nine persons on 20th September, 2013, during an operation carried out on alleged book Haram elements in a house in Apo, one can glean a pattern of serious blunders, inefficiency, and lack of sincerity of purpose and cover up. […]

From the report of a committee appointed by the Senate to investigate alleged extra-judicial killing of nine persons on 20th September, 2013, during an operation carried out on alleged book Haram elements in a house in Apo, one can glean a pattern of serious blunders, inefficiency, and lack of sincerity of purpose and cover up. Apart from submitting its report behind schedule, the committee chaired by Senator, (Rtd. Major Gen) Muhammadu Magoro, (PDP Kebbi) was more concerned with protecting special interests. Senator, Rtd. (Major Gen.) Sani Saleh, rtd (APC, Kaduna), himself a member, did well to expose the bankruptcy of the Magoro committee report. He stood on the floor of the Senate to the chagrin of Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba (PDP Cross River) to dissociate himself from the report and tell the country: “What happened that night was that the security agents just killed people without any proof that they were terrorists. The operation that day was irresponsible. It did not take care of civilian safety and did not conform to any known military standard of operation”.
First, it has become an accepted norm that Nigerian security agents are free to continue to kill suspected criminals of any hue instead of apprehending and prosecuting them in accordance with the law.  Secondly, it has been reaffirmed that those people killed by the “combined security team” are mere squatters who had overstayed their welcome in a house owned by a highly placed but nameless Nigerian. The question people continue to ask is who owns that house.
It has also emerged that although the Department of Security Services masquerades as a clinically efficient service, it doesn’t conform to global standards. For while the SSS spokeswoman Marilyn Ogar was telling the world that “in the early hours of today 20th September, 2013, about 0030 hours, a combined security team went for an operation behind the Apo legislative quarters” and that in the course of their action “some persons were injured and twelve (12) others have been arrested in connection with the incident …”, eight people had actually been shot dead at that moment. Unlike their counterparts who continuously offer briefings on such serious cases until they are fully resolved, the SSS suddenly became cantankerous and defensive; regurgitating unbelievable official lines to mask their incompetent and hair brained operation in Apo. According to Ogar: “No sooner had the team commenced digging for the arms than they came under heavy gunfire (emphasis mine) attack by other Boko Haram elements in the area, which prompted immediate response from the security team”. Where are the victims of the “heavy gunfire”? Which professional security team would “commence digging for the arms” without securing the entire surrounding and disarming all persons? Where are the arms any way? Is someone still digging the ground for them?  
The SSS has also been inconsistent. It had clashed with people as dangerous as Boko Haram in the name of Ombatse cult in Nasarawa State that murdered dozens of their operatives in an ambush but instead of standing up to the murderous group, the SSS publicly said it had forgiven those cultists. Secret service, blimey!
Senator Magoro’s committee report has sided with the strong against the weak. The report failed its mandate and is neither objective nor acceptable. They’ve wasted time and resources. Those who attended the hearings said from what they surmised, the committee wasn’t looking for information that would contradict the official line but one intended to reinforce it. According to Senator Sahabi Ya’u (PDP Zamfara): “The crucial aspect of my motion has not been addressed which is whether the people killed were members of the Boko Haram. I would like to know the stand of this Senate on the eight people killed”.
Senator Magoro knows very well that the victims of this operational blunder by “combined security team” are ordinary folks who could have come from his home state of Kebbi. The least the people of Kebbi expect from him is an objective report to determine whether the squatters senselessly killed on 20th September, 2013 truly belonged to Boko Haram or not, and to recommend apologies and compensation for them from their killers where it was not so. Are the civilian authorities so beholden to the military that they can’t rein them in?
Meanwhile, the “combined security team” couldn’t even arrest Suleiman Musa, the so called sect leader, as he “slipped away in the confusion that ensued” reported Senator Magoro’s committee. This primitive operation enjoys a huge cover-up and in a functional democracy; this shoddy work would have serious political fallouts for the committee members, especially Magoro, who is seeking re-election.
Is the Magoro committee aware of the reported banishment of four of the survivors of the Apo shooting? Which court or constitution gave the SSS the right to banish the four victims to Zamfara for two years before they ever return to Abuja and to stop them from speaking to the media? Why should the victims of such a bloody operation be banished and gagged long before the matter is settled? This is a wilful violation of their right to freedom of movement and association guaranteed by the Nigerian constitution. Courageous lawyers and media must find the four, help restore their rights and find out for the citizens what the SSS is hiding from them.