Who did it? Confusion trails raid on Abuja estate

The raid on Trademore, an estate located in the suburb of the federal capital territory (FCT), has stirred up a controversy.

Adewale Adenaike, chairman of phase 3, Trademore Estate, Lugbe, had said DSS officers in a joint operation with American soldiers arrested a suspected terrorist in his community.

The estate chairman said the security operatives closed the estate gates to stop vehicular movement in the area while the raid occurred.

“As I was approaching the gate to my own street, the heavily-masked DSS guys stopped me from going, and I told them I can’t stop because people are calling me for information so they will need to tell me why you are here. And that was how I got to know the alleged terrorist activity,” he told TheCable.

“And because they were DSS and with the American army, I had nothing to say. I just said ‘okay, they had to do what they had to do’.

“And when they finished what they were doing, all we saw was them driving away with a couple of people from the estate.”

But Peter Afunanya, spokesperson of the DSS, said although a raid was carried out in the estate, it was not done in collaboration with soldiers from the US.

ANOTHER NARRATIVE ON THE RAID

A source, who claims to be privy to the details of the raid, shared a different account of the incident.

Speaking with TheCable on Friday, the insider said the suspected insurgent arrested in the raid was a former ally of a northern governor.

The suspect was said to have been arrested following his defection from one of the leading political parties.

The insider said the unidentified individual has some information about the governor who is completing his second term in office.

“The person arrested has dirt on this governor and they are not happy that he has left the party,” the source said.

“The governor and his allies are doing all it takes to ensure that no information comes out from this person because they are very damning.”

Another source said the security operatives who carried out the operation came from another state and were not from the FCT.

“Some of them were even dressed like US soldiers,” the source said.

“Before finding their target, the operatives were first led to a wrong address where they beat up the occupants badly.”

Meanwhile, aside from the DSS comment on the raid, no other law enforcement agency has spoken about the incident.