The Department of State Services, and the Nigerian Police Force on Monday denied allegations that their personnel shot at journalists covering the #EndbadgovernanceInNigeria protest in Abuja.
Masked men suspected to be personnel of the DSS reportedly shot sporadically at protesters and journalists at the stadium on Sunday.
There were also reports that police officers shot at both protesters and journalists in Abuja.
A Premium Times reporter’s vehicle, conveying journalists out of the scene was shot many times while on motion.
However, three bullets pierced the vehicle’s bumper.
Journalists inside the car shot at by security agents included those from The Punch, The Cable, Premium Times, and Peoples Gazette.
A video journalist with AIT, Femi Kuku broke his left leg while fleeing from the masked security operatives who were shooting at journalists.
But speaking at the Strategic Communications Interagency Policy Committee joint press briefing in Abuja on Monday, DSS spokesman Peter Afunanya said its staff would never shoot at our correspondent and other journalists covering the protest.
Afunanya assured all that an investigation would be conducted on the incident to unravel those behind the act.
He said: “We need your support. We are practicing our careers because there is peace. If there is a breakdown of law and order, we won’t be seated here. Ask Somalia, Sudan, and Gaza among others. We must build peace and a lasting one for our nation.
Afunanya stated that the inability to establish the proper identities of those who shot at journalists had caused confusion.
He afterwards noted that the allegation would be investigated.
Afunanya said: “He said that there was confusion in the whole thing. But we will investigate some of these things whether it is our staff or not. But it can’t be. That one is ruled out. No SSS person would shoot at a journalist or anyone except where and when it is appropriate for the deployment of such force. No.
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“We use maximum force when your own or other citizens’ lives are under threat and not in the instance you have mentioned. But we will also investigate the issues you have raised.”
The Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi also denied that the police were responsible.
Adejobi suggested that those who shot at journalists could be hoodlums, adding that two AK 47 rifles had been recovered from them during the protest.
He said: “I don’t think, and I don’t have that record, that policemen have been firing live ammunition in any of the states. I was told that in Kano, where they alleged that policemen engage and fire… I don’t have that report. But all I know is that we were able to recover two AK 47s from these protesters.
“So, if we have been recovering arms from them if they bear arms, who knows who pulled the trigger? It’s a very difficult thing for us to stand there and say that the police or any other security agency has been using live ammunition. So, Solomon, don’t be surprised, at who fired at you.”
However, The Punch correspondent argued and insisted that those who shot at journalists were not hoodlums.
He said after they arrived at the national stadium, they (masked security men), along with uniformed policemen, pursued some protesters who fled into the surrounding bushes.
Responding, Adejobi said: “From what I heard from the FCT, I know we have not engaged with live ammunition. To the best of my knowledge and in the history of the country, these protests have been well managed. Security forces should be commended for the way we have managed these protests. It is not easy to manage a complex nation like Nigeria.”
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