Alleged DSS killing of unarmed guard in Nasarawa sparks anger

A security guard at the Ebenezer Primary School, Mararaba, Nasarawa State, has died after he was allegedly shot by men of the Department of State Services during an argument.

The deceased, simply identified as Kingsley, was said to have been accosted by the security personnel on Tuesday after he was found near a drunken man lying on the ground.

Kingsley reportedly attempted to run away but was shot by the operatives said to be from the Federal Capital Territory Command, and his body abandoned at the scene popularly known as corner shop, not far from where he worked as a security guard.

But another version said the security guard might have been mistaken for a cultist and killed because he resisted arrest and attempted to escape.

A Mararaba resident, John Rowland, described the location of the incident as a notorious area, which he said was unsafe to walk at night.

He flayed the security agency for abuse of power and failing to secure the citizens and the nation from hoodlums.

He stated, “What happened to Kingsley is sad and unfair. Nigerian security agencies are not even interested in making the country more secure. All they care about is how the masses will fear them. I know a sharp corner where the incident happened; that area is a terrible place, you can’t walk there at night or even in the day time.”

Pictures of the deceased lying on the bare ground half-naked have sparked anger online with many Nigerians demanding investigation and justice for Kingsley.

Writing on a popular online forum, Nairaland, a lady, Yembet wondered when the security agencies would cease to kill unarmed civilians, noting that many lives had been lost to extra-judicial killings by law enforcement agents.

She noted, “When will our security operatives stop the attacks and killing of innocent civilians? Many lives have been lost to these untrained, untamed, over-excited people who carry guns about but do not do the job they are assigned to do.

“It is very upsetting that our security forces who are meant to protect us are killing us, instead. Until the government enacts a law to deal with these human hunters, no one is safe.”

Another commenter, Gaspar Pisciota, also condemned the killing, describing it as senseless.

But the Director, DSS FCT command, Muazu Ado, denied the involvement of his men in the incident, arguing that they could not have carried out any operation outside their jurisdiction.

“DSS operatives from the FCT command could not have been involved in the alleged killing of the man because Mararaba is in Nasarawa state and outside our jurisdiction. In any case, we cannot be involved in extra-judicial killings,” he said.