SAN FRANCISCO, December 28, (THEWILL) – The police have prevented suspected militants from bombing the third mainland bridge in Lagos on Boxing Day arresting the prime suspect.
This was achieved by the Inspector General of Police’s Special Intelligence Response Team (IRT), which acting on a credible intelligence report, trailed and arrested the primary suspects and recovered two AK 47 Rifles, two cartons of explosives and detonators.
Jimoh Moshood, an official of the police public relations department, revealed that the prime suspect was identified as 43-year-old Abiodun Amos, also referred to as Senti, a member of a notorious militant group operating from the creeks of Ikorodu and Arepo areas of Lagos and Ogun States.
The suspect was said to have been gathering explosives to blow up the bridge but met his waterloo on Wednesday when he was arrested at the bank of Majidun River in Ikorodu, with two AK47 rifles hidden in a bag he brought from his hideout in the Creek.
Unknown to him, however, the IRT had been building intelligence on him and were tracking him having obtained report, which was passed on to the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, that the group was in the final stage of carrying out the said attack.
The IG was said to have directed his operatives at the IRT led by Abba Kyari, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, to commence a full-scale investigation which unearthed the fact that the group was actually planning to blow up the bridge at the end of the month.
Further investigations revealed that the group had acquired large quantities of dynamites and several other explosives which would be used for the attack.
The police said he has made confessional statement about other gang members.
“We went into bank robberies and kidnapping because we wanted to get government’s attention and all we wanted was for them to grant us amnesty and also offer us pipeline protection contracts,” the suspect confessed.
“We have made several appeals and the government is not listening to us. General Ossy said if we don’t blow up the Third Mainland Bridge government would not listen to us.
“We had concluded plans and we decided to carry out the attack. I am the group’s explosives expert and before I was arrested we were going into the creeks to conclude plans on how to carry out the attack.”
Story by Oputah David
