Plan to bomb Abuja revealed

Plan to bomb Abuja revealed

The National Information Centre (NIC) yesterday alerted Nigerians of a plot by Boko Haram to bomb the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), using petrol tankers. Coordinator of the centre, Mike Omeri, who made this known at a media briefing in Abuja, spoke of how the insurgents were planning to seize petrol tankers, plant Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) on them and drive them to crowded places in the capital city.

Omeri, who is also the Director-General of the National Orientation Agency(NOA), while calling on residents of the FCT to be on the alert and report any broken down tankers in any part of the city to security agencies, however, said they were working with the Petrol Tanker Drivers Association (PTDA) to forestall any attack.

He has also called on PTDA to be on the “red alert”, and report any attempt or seizure of their vehicles to security agencies.

“Similarly, we are using this opportunity to appeal to the public to be on the alert particu­larly when they see any tanker driving danger­ously”.

On the update of the 486 suspected terror­ists arrested in Abia State on Monday, Omeri, said: “It must be made clear and understood that the exercise was not targeted at any group or persons or individual, but aimed at general security of the country”.

He said the presence of the most wanted ter­ror kingpin among the suspects who had been profiled by the Department of State Security (DSS) in 2007, led to further questioning of the large movement of persons travelling in a con­voy of over 30 buses with none of the travellers having up to N1,000 on them.

Omeri, while calling for understanding from the public to allow security agencies carry out their duties, said, “clearly, their mission was suspicious and had to be thoroughly investi­gated”. On the bomb blast at a football viewing centre in Yobe State on Tuesday, Omeri said 10 people died in the attack while 30 others were seriously injured and receiving treatment in hospitals.