Lagos State PPRO, Ngozi Braide
The Seriki Hausawa of Lagos, Alhaji Sanni Kabiru, yesterday promised to fish out Boko Haram members who may have sneaked into the state. He made the pledge when he led members of the Hausa community on a solidarity visit to the palace of Ojora of Ijora, Oba Fatai Oyeyinka Aremu Ojora.
His visit was a reaction to the arrest of a Boko Haram suspect, a Chadian, during a raid by operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS) and soldiers at Ijora Badiya, Lagos Mainland, last Thursday.
Two AK-47 rifles, arms, ammunition and explosive devices were recovered from him. Since his arrest, securitymen have been swooping on suspected Boko Haram hide-outs and by yesterday, 150 suspects were rounded up in Apapa, Lagos.
But lamenting the development during the solidarity visit to the palace, the Seriki Hausawa, Alhaji Kabiru said all hands were on deck to bring to book members of the dreaded Islamist sect. According to him, “we are part and parcel of Lagos State and this community.
We will not destroy and will not be part of plans to destroy the state. That is why we are here on solidarity visit. The perpetrators must be fished out. “All the Serikis in the state have resolved to be at alert. If we notice any strange face in our community or suspicious movement, we will report immediately to the police”.
The Hausa leader also expressed the need for the security agencies in the state to be proactive in their approach to surveillance, urging the operatives to beef up security in strategic areas. Reiterating the importance of peaceful co-existence, he said,“ I appeal to all our nationalities to be peace-loving and remain calm as the they go about their businesses.” Responding, Oba Ojora warned members of the sect trying to use his domain as base to terrorize the state to leave immediately.
Ojora, who blamed Bayelsa State government for abandoning the property used by the terrorists to store arms, said he had written to the Lagos State Government to revoke the Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) to the land and pull down the structure now serving as a haven for criminals. He urged the Serikis to be vigilant and monitor activities of people living in their communities.
In continuation of their onslaught of Boko Haram members, 150 suspects have been arrested within two days by the police in Apapa, Lagos, according to the Commander, Mr. Muhammed Ali, an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) who ordered the raid of Marine Beach bridge to Ijora bridge, both in Apapa.
The two operations led by ACP Ali and the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Apapa, Mr. Usman Ndanbabo, a Chief Superintendent, led to the arrest of 100 suspects on Sunday and about 50 yesterday. It was also learnt yesterday after screening that, 93 suspects are to be deported. Suspects were also rounded up in different parts of the state on Friday. An authoritative police source disclosed that majority of the suspects are from Chad, Niger, Mali and some other neighbouring countries.
Others are people who claimed to be Nigerians but had no means of livelihood. When Daily Sun visited Area ‘B’ Command yesterday, some of the suspects were in two Volkswagen LT 35 buses waiting to be moved to Alausa.
When our reporter visited Ijora, the residents were more conscious of strangers entering their community, especially those carrying luggage. Some policemen and civilians suspected to be members of a popular vigilance group in Lagos were searching suspected strangers to ensure that the unwanted dreaded visitors did not enter the area.
When contacted, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, said she was not aware of any arrest of any Boko Haram suspect.
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