Amid reactions that trailed the security alert over impending terrorist attacks in Kano, the police command has disclosed the arrest of a soft suspect of the terrorist.
Besides, the police claimed operatives of the command recovered an Improvise Explosive Device (IED) at the Sani Abacha Stadium, the venue of the National Maulud of the Tijjaniyya Muslim sect, at the weekend.
Responding to a question on the security signal issued at the weekend on terrorist attacks in Kano, Commissioner of Police Salman Dogo Garba insisted the command acted based on reliable intelligence.
Salman spoke during a press briefing Monday at command headquarters and revealed the terrorists had planned to seize undue advantage of the mass gathering of Tijjaniyya sects who converged from across the country in Kano to unleash terror.
According to Salman, the suspected terrorists who came from the Chad Republic to perpetrate the dastardly act were forced to leave the ancient city and escape to Cameroon upon the launch of the security signal.
The CP worried about how residents elicit political interest in security affairs in the state while tracing his strong background and ancestral affiliation to the Tijjaniyya movement, which he would not attempt any move to jeopardise.
” We truly acted on intelligence of terrorists who came from Chad to launch an attack in Kano. They had planned to use the Tijjaniyya Maulud celebration to unleash their terror.
“That was the reason for the signal, and we deployed men to comb the venue of the event. We recovered IEDs at the venue and we also arrested a soft suspect of the terrorists who was their host in Kano while the primary targets escaped to Cameroon”. Salman said.
Spokesperson of Command Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa SP on Friday, in a statement, raised the alarm of planned terrorist attacks in some strategic locations within the Kano metropolis.
While cautioning residents to avoid crowded environments until further notice, Kiyawa said the command has rolled out tanks to foil the purported terror plots.
According to him, the police have deployed necessary security arrangements, including a team of explosive ordinance disposal, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear units of the force to mount strategic positions to neutralize the threat.
In a counter-reaction, Commissioner for Information and Internal Affairs in Kano, Abdullahi Ibrahim Kiyawa, declared the security alert was rather an attempt to obstruct the annual religious activities scheduled at Sani Abacha stadium, Kano.
Waiya, who briefed journalists Friday night, emphasized that the state government has not issued any complaint regarding insecurity in Kano, and pointed out no report of any security threat that should warrant an extreme measure by the police.
