The Department of State Service, DSS , confirmed, yesterday, that 21 Boko Haram suspects were killed in a shoot-out at its detention centre between its operatives and the sect members.
DSS said two of its operatives sustained serious injuries.
The detained terrorists reportedly over-powered the guards, shot several operatives and attempted to stage a daring escape from detention.
There were, however, different accounts on how the attempted jailbreak was carried out.
Meanwhile, Presidential spokesman, Reuben Abati, denied reports, yesterday, that President Goodluck Jonathan was whisked away during the attempted jailbreak and shootout.
How B’Haram overpowered DSS operative
According to a security source, one of the Boko Haram members told one of the DSS guards that he was pressed and needed to go to the toilet. The sect member’s request was obliged without being leg-chained. On getting to the toilet and finding the door locked, he applied force and uprooted the toilet seat unknown to the operative who was standing outside.
When the detainee knocked the door to indicate that he had finished, the DSS the operative opened the door, only to have his head smashed with the heavy toilet seat.
The operative was said to have collapsed. The sect member then collected the gun of the operative, went to the cell entrance and opened fire on the other operatives who were caught off-guard and set free many of his colleagues.
The source said it was the shooting at the DSS centre that alerted other operatives who mobilised to take on the sect members, leading to serious shoot-out between the terrorists and the operatives for over an hour before security was re-enforced and soldiers drafted to the scene.
Soldiers called in to stop the rampaging Boko Haram detainees, Sunday morning.
Another account
Another account of the incident had it that trouble started around 6 a.m. during the normal handing and taking over of duties by DSS detainees’ handlers.
Vanguard learnt that the shoot-out erupted when some of the suspected terrorists attempted to free their members and leave the detention facility, which is by the precincts of the Presidential Villa.
A competent source said as soon as one handler opened the gate leading to the cell where the detainees were being kept, 10 suspected terrorists rushed out, snatched the handler’s rifle and used it to shoot at him.
Alerted by the attack, some DSS handlers were reported to have retreated so as not to be killed by the rampaging suspected terrorists. The source said after shooting the first handler, the 10 suspected terrorists began to escape into different locations within the massive security compound.
Alarmed by the effrontery of the suspected terrorists, the DSS quickly deployed its men to quell the uprising, resulting in heavy shooting that claimed the lives of some of the suspects.
Many DSS operatives and Boko Haram detainees were also injured in the ensuing stampede.
The shot DSS operative, whose name could not be immediately ascertained, was immediately rushed to an undisclosed hospital. A source said the shot operative was in a critical condition but had not died.
