Suspected Boko Haram Members Arrested in Lagos

State Security Service

The fear that the ongoing violence in some northern states may spread southwards thursday prompted security agents to launch a pre-emptive raid on hideouts of suspected criminals in Lagos.
In an operation carried out by men and officers of the Operation Mesa (OP Mesa), a joint security outfit comprising members of the armed forces and those of the State Security Service (SSS),  they raided Ijora 7-UP area of the state and arrested some suspected Boko Haram members.
This is coming barely weeks after the state government stormed the area with a contingent of riot policemen and bulldozers to demolish many homes and shanties suspected to be harbouring criminals.

Although THISDAY could not confirm the number of persons arrested, sources said devices suspected to be explosives were also recovered during the raid.
However, sources said the SSS arrested two persons, a northerner and a man who claimed to be a Chadian, who were allegedly whisked away to Abuja for further interrogation.

The suspects were said to have concealed some devices suspected to be explosives in boxes, which were stacked in the ceiling of a house they were occupying. Also recovered alongside the suspected explosives were two AK47 rifles.

The recovery of the explosives was said to have caused pandemonium among residents of Ijora Badia area, prompting the monarch of the area, Oba Fatai Ojora, to begin investigations to identify the owner of the house in which the suspects were arrested.
But THISDAY gathered from sources that the landlord of the house rented the house to the suspects about one month ago without an inkling that they were into some nefarious business.

Last month, three persons said to be members of Shiite sect were arrested in Ilorin, as they were planning to attack some Israeli and American interests in Lagos.
The group is led by a local Shiite leader from  Ilorin, who received training in Iran in armed combat and the use of improvised explosive devices. 

The group was planning attacks on the Lagos offices of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Haifa-based ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. and the Jewish Cultural Centre.
Speaking to THISDAY on the phone, the spokesperson, 81 Division, Nigerian Army, Colonel Kingsley Umoh, confirmed the raid although he could not confirm if the suspects were Boko Haram members as speculated.
Umoh said although the raid was a routine one similar to those carried out occasionally in Mushin and Agege as well as other parts of the state, yesterday's raid was based on a tip off from sources.

He said: "The Op Mesa as you know is a joint security body and they carried out their routine raids yesterday and made some arrests. The raids are simply a part of those that are carried out everyday based on information at our disposal.

"The raids give the public confidence that we, the security bodies, are working. It is the way OP Mesa was designed and once our sources tip us off, we swing into action, and thus far, our sources have proven to be credible."
When asked about the claims that the military group recovered some devices suspected to be explosives, Umoh said he did not have details of that as well as the number of those arrested during the raid.

Also reacting to claims that the arrest incited a clash between the soldiers and the hoodlums, Umoh said: "Although people have a tendency to resist arrest, there was nothing like that in this case. They raided and effected arrests without hassles."

Also, a senior officer of the Lagos State Police Command, who sought not to be named because he was not authorised to speak on the issue, debunked claims that the police were among the security agencies that carried out the early morning raid.
Also, the command debunked claims that explosives were recovered by the OP Mesa.
The state Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, said no explosive was recovered.

Braide who spoke through her deputy, Chukwuma Ozoani, told THISDAY that if explosives were recovered, the state Police Anti-Bomb Squad would have been called in to detonate them.

She said: "The police did not carry out any raid on Ijora and we cannot hold brief for the OP Mesa but whatever it is, we have called the area and everything is said to be calm."
THISDAY also called the Lagos State  Director, SSS, Ben Achu-Olayi, who  asked to be called back since he was at a meeting.