Security has been beefed up in Nigeria’s capital of Abuja following a daring and deadly attack on the headquarters of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Abuja on Monday morning.
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Security has been beefed up in Nigeria’s capital of Abuja following a daring and deadly attack on the headquarters of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Abuja on Monday morning.
Nigeria’s police authorities said some 30 violent crime suspects were set free during the attack, and that two police officers were also killed.
A security source told SaharaReporters that the Presidency ordered agencies concerned with law enforcement and security matters to take immediate action to secure major institutions and locations within and around Abuja. “Heavily armed policemen have been drafted to man major government buildings,” said the source.
Vehicular movement in the capital has been very chaotic as police were seen conducting stop-and-search exercises at strategic locations throughout the metropolis.
A citizen reporter affiliated with SaharaReporters who drove around the city reported seeing visible signs of tightened security around the premises of security agencies, including the State Security Service (SSS), the Defense Headquarters, and the National Intelligence Agency.
A security source disclosed that the attack at SARS headquarters sent jitters down the spines of the Presidency as well as the country’s security hierarchy. A hitherto little known Islamist sect named Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina Fi Biladis Sudan reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack. To worsen matters, the new radical and militant group promised to attack more security buildings across the country to set free detained or incarcerated Muslims, including some women and children the group said are being detained unlawfully.
A source at the Presidency told SaharaReporters that some foreign missions had expressed concern to President Goodluck Jonathan about the deteriorating security situation in Nigeria, with particular reference to the country’s capital. “The resurgence of tactical and coordinated attacks by terror groups are threatening to depict Nigeria as unstable, tense and fragile,” said the source, adding that “an increasing number of foreign missions worth to see the trend arrested.”
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