Easter: Security On Red Alert In Northern Nigeria

Ahead of Easter celebrations in some parts of troubled Northern Nigeria, SaharaReporters has gathered that security agencies involved in anti-terror response are on red alert to contain possible attacks by Boko Haram.

Our investigations also reveal that even Lagos State in Southern Nigeria is on red alert as well, following last week’s discovery in the area of arms, and the arrest of some suspected terrorists alleged to be nationals of Chad and Niger Republic.

States with stepped-up anti-terrorism activity in the North include Kaduna, Kano, Plateau states, aside Borno and Yobe. 
Pointers to plans by Boko Haram sect to strike during the Easter period, according to another a source, come from yesterday’s discovery of bombs and weapons in Kano and the arrest of some Boko Haram members close to a military post in Kaduna.

Another indication of heightened intelligence comes from an ambush by Boko Haram fighters of some military operatives last Tuesday in Geidam, Yobe State. The attack was repelled by troops of the Joint Task Force, but four of the gunmen lost their lives in the ensuing gun duel.   Three AK 47 rifles, 5 rifle magazines and 72 rounds of 7.62 mm special ammunitions were recovered.

A military officer in Kaduna confirmed that important infrastructure and institutions in and around Kaduna are being heavily protected and monitored in different ways following tips that suspected terrorists are playing attacks.

“We have beefed up [security] and not leaving anything to chance,” he told our reporter. “That is the little I can say.”
Last year in Kaduna State, there was a terror attack on Easter Day in which about 50 persons lost their lives and a lot of property was destroyed when a bomb-laden car on a suicide bomb mission exploded on a major road while transiting to a target.



-- Sahara Reporters