Authorities in Nigeria have heightened intelligence, surveillance and vigilance against the Boko Haram insurgents and thanks to their state of alertness, suspected Boko Haram militants were stopped from attacking the Dolphin Estate in the Ikovi District of Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos.
State Commissioner of Information Steve Ayorinde disclosed the foiled attack and arrest of the 45 Boko Haram militants on Saturday, October 24, 2015, Bloomberg News reported. Ikovi District is mostly habited by rich people and expatriates working in oil companies.
The suspected Boko Haram militants were arrested following intelligence report on their alleged plan to attack Dolphin Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos, the Chinese News Agency Xinhua reported. The attack, Xinhua further reported, was slated for September soon after the arrival of the suspects in Lagos.
The suspects were taken to court on Friday, October 23, 2015 and the court ordered that they be remanded in Kirikiri prisons in the state. The security operatives reportedly told the court that the suspects had volunteered confessional statements, adding that arms were recovered from them.
As the battle to eradicate Boko Haram insurgents rages on, Nigerian troops have been making more remarkable progress. The troops are said to have also destroyed at least 20 Boko Haram camps and removed improvised explosive devices along the road in the border towns of Kerenowa and Chikun Gudu in the northeastern Borno State, Nigerian army spokesman Sani Kukasheka Usman said.
Also in August 2015, the Department of State Security announced the arrest of 19 suspected terrorists of Boko Haram in Lagos, Enugu, Plateau, Kano and Gombe States. While the group has successfully attacked Abuja, the capital, in the past, it has not carried out any attacks in Lagos or any of the southern cities, reports say.
