The
police have arrested three other suspects in connection with a plan by a
militant group to bomb the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos State.
It was learnt on Thursday
that the marine police had also intensified water patrol around the bridge area
to avert any attack from members of the gang, who were on the run.
It
had been reported that a bomb expert of the group, Abiodun Amos, aka Senti, was apprehended by the Inspector-General of Police
Intelligence Response Team in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State.
He
was said to have been apprehended during the last phase of the foiled plan with
two Ak-47 rifles and a cache of explosives recovered from the boot of his car.
Forty-three-year-old
Amos, an indigene of Arugbo in the Ese Odo Local Government Area of Ondo State,
reportedly confessed to the police to have participated in various robberies
and kidnappings in Lagos and Ogun states after the bombardment of creeks around
the states, which frustrated the gang’s pipeline vandalism operations.
He
reportedly told the police that the group, led by one General Ossy, was aggrieved that the government did not
yield to its amnesty request and demand for pipeline protection contract.
“General
Ossy
said if we didn’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 by
November ending. I am the group’s explosive expert. We were about going
into the creek to conclude plans on how to carry out the attack when I was
arrested,” he had said.
A
credible police source on Thursday said that after Amos’ arrest, three other
suspects had been apprehended in Lagos and Delta states.
The
source, however, said the police withheld the identities of the suspects in
order not to jeopardize investigations and the arrest of other fleeing members
of the gang.
“The
bomb expert that was arrested in Ikorodu was in charge of importation of the
explosives. His confession led to the arrest of three others. Two were arrested
in Lagos, while another one was apprehended in Warri (Delta State). We don’t
want to disclose their names for now because we are still on the trail of other
members of the gang,” the source said.
It
was learnt that the Marine Police Command had increased surveillance on the
waterways and was being complemented with aerial patrol by the military.
“The
marine police have intensified waterways patrol, while the Nigerian Air Force
carries out aerial surveillance to closely monitor the bridge,” the source
added.
The
Force Public Relations Officer, DCP Don Awunah, had yet to reply to an inquiry
sent to his mobile phone on the development as of press time.
Source:Punch
Tags
Society