The DSS warned that the attacks are planned to take place in parks and places where there are large congregations of worshippers. It cautioned the general public to be wary of suspicious packages and persons during the Eid-el-Fitr celebrations.
The Directorate of State Security (DSS) has announced that it has received intelligence indicating plots by extremists to attack selected locations across the country. The warning was contained in a press statement issued by the service on Friday.
The DSS warned that the attacks are planned to take place in parks and places where there are large congregations of worshippers. It cautioned the general public to be wary of suspicious packages and persons during the Eid-el-Fitr celebrations.
The statement, signed by Tony Opuiyo, also announced the arrest of 14 suspected kidnappers, two members of the Niger Delta Avengers and other criminals across the country. According to the DSS, Kabiru Shuaibu, alleged the ring leader of kidnap gang running wild in the Northern part of the country, was arrested along with three accomplices on Murtala Muhammed Bridge in Lokoja, Kogi State. The names of the accomplices were given as Haruna Saleh, Tukur Shuaibu and Abdulmumuni Adamuna. The suspects were caught with a locally-made pistol, seven cartridges, 14 mobile phones and N615,000.
In Akure, capital of Ondo State, six members of a kidnapping and robbery gang, suspected to have kidnapped two Catholic nuns, were arrested on 8 June. Members of the gang are Reuben Akinbehinje, John Imoleayo Uche, Seun Lajuwon, Seun Iseoluwa Akintayo, Lateef Fayemi Hammed and Saheed Oyewo. The gang, said the DSS, was also involved in fuel tanker diversion and cult activities.
In Port Harcourt, Rivers State, DSS operatives, on 12 June, arrested one Ifeanyi Michael Onyike, who was allegedly involved in the abduction of the wife of the Personal Assistant to Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Transport.
The Northwestern zone of the country also yielded a number of arrests of kidnappers operating in Kano, Katsina, Kebbi and Zamfara States. On 25 June, the quartet of Sani Abdullahi, Rufai Tukur Abdullahi, Najeeb Abubakar and Abdullahi Ahmed were arrested. The group was said to have been planning the kidnap of high-value targets in Katsina State at the time of the arrest.
On 19 June in the Langtang North Local Government Area of Plateau State, the DSS, with the assistance of the military and police, nabbed one one Nanpon Sambs (alias Yabam), a suspected member of an illegal arms-dealing gang, led by one Peter Nehemia (aka Adagyo). A Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) launcher and circuit charger were recovered from a Toyota Highlander SUV belonging to the suspect.
In Calabar, Cross River State, the DSS said it apprehend a suspected member of the Niger Delta Avengers, Selky Kile Torughedi.
Torughedi was nabbed on 17 June for allegedly planning to murder one MB. Yahaya, a serving military officer. The suspect, said to be a close associate of Government Ekpemuopolo, the wanted Niger Delta militant, was said to have already conducted surveillance at Yahaya's Kaduna residence preparatory to murdering him.
Another suspected member of the Niger Delta Avengers, Christian Oluba aka Sensor was arrested while allegedly perfecting plans to carry out explosive attacks on critical oil and gas pipelines, including critical storage points. Also arrested was one Chidiebere Onwudiwe, a graduate of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering and member of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). Onwudiwe was arrested on 22nd June and said to have been planning, along with his associates in and outside the country, coordinated attacks against religious bodies, buildings, police checkpoints and the computer village in Ikeja, Lagos.
He was said to have been arrested while making logistics supplies for the plot.
