Security has been tightened around prison facilities in Kano State after the police interception of a vehicle loaded with explosives in the entity.
PREMIUM TIMES noted on Friday and Saturday that the routes leading to the Goron Dutse and Kurmawa Correctional Facilities in the metropolis were fortified with heavier-than-usual security personnel. Parts of the roads were also cordoned off and road users were asked to take alternative routes.
Before the new security measures were implemented, state police commissioner Sama’ila Dikko said police thwarted planned terror attacks and recovered firearms and explosive devices between June 27 and July 21.
“A police team led by Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Alabi Lateef, while conducting an intelligence-led surveillance patrol throughout Chiranchi Dorayi Quarters Kano, in continuation of a case under investigation, intercepted a Mercedes motorized vehicle Benz on the move.
“While they were preparing to stop and search the vehicle, the occupants opened fire on the police officers and the operatives confronted the thugs (who) fled and abandoned the aforementioned motorized vehicle.
“Search conducted by a Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (EOD-CBRN) Explosive Ordnance Disposal team, the following items were recovered from the vehicle; (1) Three (3) A47 rifles with fully loaded magazines containing ninety (90) rounds of ammunition (2) Fourteen (14) empty rounds of AK47 ammunition (3) Three different mobile phones (4) different types of explosive devices (IEDs) ) ),” the police commissioner said.
Meanwhile, the spokesman for the Nigerian Correctional Service in Kano, Musbahu Lawan, said the security measures put in place were to prevent prison attacks similar to those at Kuje in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
Terrorists earlier this month used explosives to breach the correctional facility in Kuje, causing more than 800 of the 994 inmates to escape.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that a Nigerian Civil Defense and Security Corps officer and four inmates were killed during the attack.
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Mr. Lawan told Freedom Radio in Kano that all roads leading to correctional facilities in the state have been blocked and more security personnel have been deployed.
Earlier on Monday, the Kano state government announced a ban on tricycle operations popularly known as ‘A Daidata Sahu’ from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.
Government spokesman Muhammad Garba said the decision was made at the state security meeting. He said it is an effort to ensure the safety of lives and property in the state.
kano
Terrorist attacks and armed banditry are rare in Kano, the commercial powerhouse of northern Nigeria. A recent security report suggests that terrorist groups are in a desperate move to spread their atrocities to the state.
In June, the Nigerian Chief of Defense Staff, Lucky Irabor, said that security agents thwarted what could have been the worst terror attack in Kano.
Irabor stated this when he appeared on the Channels Television special entitled ‘Democracy Day: Giving Nigerians Hope’.
He said: “We recovered a large quantity of weapons, ammunition and other materials which were of course intended to be used by criminals in various parts of the country including Abuja.
“Perhaps, you don’t know that just the same week as the Owo incident (attack on church in southwestern Nigeria) in Kano, for example, given the intelligence available to security agencies, we were able to spoil what would have been the incident. most catastrophic within our country,” the security chief said.