The latest bomb blast by yet to be known persons came about eight weeks after a similar incident claimed many lives on the premises of St. Theresa’s Catholic Church at Madalla, on the boundary between Niger State and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
At the time of filing this report on Sunday, nobody had claimed responsibility for the bomb blast, but operatives of the State Security Service (SSS), who moved to the scene were quoted as saying that an improvised explosive device (IED) was planted by unknown people inside a vehicle parked some few metres away from the front of the church.
The bomb blast was reported to have occurred at about 10.30 a.m near the church and a popular hotel on the busy street.
An eyewitness, who craved anonymity, confirmed the bomb explosion, claiming that no person was killed. He added that the damage from the bomb, which was planted amidst five cars, was minimal.
According to the source, among the injured persons, two were rushed to Gwagwalada Specialist Hospital while three others received treatment at Suleja hospital and had been discharged.
Another witness said that some people who were close to the scene saw a parked car without a number plate. They became suspicious and started alerting people to stay away from the car, before the explosive went off.
He said, “the most fortunate thing was when the bomb exploded in the car, there was no fire from the vehicle, though other parked vehicles by the side were affected because of the impact of the explosive device.”
It was learnt that military personnel that were deployed in the Suleja Local Government Area after the declaration of the state of emergency early this year have taken over and cordoned off the area.
Reacting, the Director-General of Niger State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Mohammad Shaba, said he was mobilising his staff to the scene of the incident with a view to taking over the treatment of the injured persons and also to meet with those that lost their property.
When contacted, the state Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Ibrahim Maishanu, confirmed the incident, saying that one person was injured and two vehicles were affected in the blast.
He said, “one person was injured and two vehicles were affected and as I am talking with you, I am on my way to Suleja to further ascertain the situation.”
Meanwhile, four persons suspected to be members of Boko Haram were, on Sunday, arrested at St Theresa’s Catholic Church at High Level, Makurdi, the Benue State capital.
The Nigerian Tribune learnt that the four suspects had attempted to gain entry into the church at the commencement of the second mass around 10.00 a.m, when they were stopped by private security men.
The questions posed to the suspects, who were said to have dressed in kaftan with rosary in their hands, were not answered satisfactorily and the policemen attached to the church to beef up security were said to have put a call to their colleagues who whisked them away.
Some members of the church and a security man at the gate, who did not want his name in print, confirmed the report to Nigerian Tribune, saying that the suspects claimed to have come from Kaduna State and that they were in the church to see someone whose name was not given.
The security man said that the four suspects were dressed in kaftan, adding that two of them held rosary in their hands, pretending to be Catholic faithful, saying, “their answers to questions put to them were not satisfactory enough.”
One of the members of the church, an eyewitness who gave his name as Clement, told Nigerian Tribune that “the dressing of the four suspects was different from those of us who worship here. The rosary in their hands was not convincing enough. So, the police officers, who were attached to this place, immediately put a call to their office and the four suspects were taken away.”
Efforts to get information from the policemen were rebuffed, as one of them who prevented Nigerian Tribune from seeing the priest in charge said, “you newsmen like to disturb, where did you get your information? How do you know whether the people (suspects) were members of Boko Haram?”
Presiding minister, Reverend Father John Tomdom said he was yet to be briefed on the arrest of any suspect, saying, “I have just finished from the mass, I am yet to receive information and you know that there is no way I could know what was happening outside while I was inside the church.”
Confirming the arrest, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr Alaribe Ejike, however, said that the people were not members of Boko Haram.
It will be recalled that following the rumour that Benue State is on the invasion list of the dreaded sect, the state government and religious leaders in the state took measures to beef up security in places of worship. Hence, some churches now have security agents manning their gates every Sunday.
Also, the state governor, Mr Gabriel Suswam, had recently raised the alarm, claiming that about 100 members of the Boko Haram sect had been arrested and detained in undisclosed cells.
In another development, a lull appears imminent in the frequent attacks by members of the dreaded Boko Haram sect as the trans-border supply lines of the sect have been disrupted as a result of a crisis rocking al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), a notorious terrorist group with a training camp in northern Mali.
Reports from the Sahel Region, which is the boundary between the Sahara Desert and the dense interior jungles of Africa, indicate that AQIM is embroiled in a major leadership crisis between two leaders of the group- Mohammed Ghadir and Khaled Abass, who are vying for the control of AQIM’s Sahara emirate.
A tripartite terrorist groups namely, Nigeria’s Boko Haram, AQIM in the Sahara and al-Shabaab in Somalia, receive material and infrastructural support from their parent body, al-Qaeda.
It will be recalled that Boko Haram recently confirmed its al-Qaeda link from which it draws nourishment.
Military and intelligence services are reported by Magharebia, an interactive news website covering the Maghreb region, to have made serious advances in breaking the communication and supply links among the trio, a development said to be positive for Nigeria’s intelligence community in stopping the supply chain to the Boko Haram sect.
The leadership tussle is said to have enhanced the capacity of the Sahel military and intelligence agencies in disrupting the terror operations, leading to the recent large-scale arrests and killings of members of the groups.
According to security analysts, AQIM’s crisis has been complicated by the scaling up of military operations, as well as intelligence penetration by the Joint Sahel Intelligence Centre and the Joint Military Command, which are said to have sown panic among the leadership of the group.
Sahel military groups, it was gathered, were said to be conducting disruptive operations targeting the three terrorist organisations, even as it was said to be reaching out to the Nigerian government with the aim of preventing al-Qaeda and Boko Haram from forging a closer alliance.
The clampdown on the terrorist network was reported to have also led to the arrest of several Boko Haram recruits on their way to AQIM training camps in northern Mali by the Nigerian authorities, just as Libyan weapons destined for the camps were said to have been intercepted.
“There is continuous thinking about preventing this terrorist network, which tries to extend from the eastern to central Africa, from communicating,” a Mauritanian Foreign Ministry official confirmed to Magharebia.
Many within the nation’s security circles are reported to have identified the stoppage of external supply chain to Boko Haram from the Sahel region and other sources as a major strategy in combating terrorism in the country.
A Sahel security analyst, Handy Ould Dah, was quoted by the news agency as declaring that Algeria had disrupted relations between Boko Haram and AQIM.
In addition, African countries in the Sahel region were said to have been successful in convincing the Tuareg communities across the region to join in the fight against AQIM in return for accelerated development in their communities.
This was said to have led to a notorious group, the National Movement of Azaouad (NMLA), disowning AQIM.
Meanwhile, France and Britain will soon launch counter-terrorism operations in the north of Mali and Niger Republic.
El Khabar, an Algerian newspaper, reported that the move was aimed at further weakening the coordination of the three terrorist groups.
According to the newspaper, the two countries were collecting as much intelligence as possible, through aerial reconnaissance missions, conducting tapping and monitoring operations of some terror sites with operations reported to include killing of terrorist leaders in what is known as “physical liquidations.”
The goal of the operation was to put an end to the frequent abduction of Western nationals and prevent AQIM from spreading its terror tentacles.
Experts in the Sahel said the French-British efforts were proceeding in deliberate coordination with regional countries in terms of collecting intelligence and setting the goals to be focused upon.
Nigerian security officials were, however, not ready to confirm or deny the development in the Sahel and its effects on the nation’s battle against Boko Haram, as they described security operations as “classified.”
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