From Desmond Mgboh, Kano
Kano State Police Commissioner, Salman Dogo Garba , yesterday,reaffirmed the position of security agencies that the state survived a terror attack at the weekend.
Briefing the media at the Bompai headquarters of the Police Command, he explained that the principal suspect of the plot had fled to Cameroon while some of his lieutenants escaped from the state after they had gotten wind that they were being zeroed down by operatives.
He also confirmed that they recovered a number of explosives following their operations as well as arrested one of the soft targets of the evil plot.
Though not giving much out, he explained that arrested suspect, “happened to be the person in the custody of the key of the house where the prime suspect resides in Kano.and who confirmed that he had fled to Cameroon”
The police boss, who recalled that the prime suspect had killed eight person in a terror attack in Chad a few days ago, explained that the intention of the terror gang was to take advantage of the ongoing Tijjaniyya”s Maulud celebrations to unleash mayhem in the state.
According to him, following the reciept of the terror – signal, they took several proactive steps including deploying officers to comb the venue of the Tijjaniyya”s occassion situated at the Sani Abacha Stadium, inside the city.
“ Those people whom we met at the stadium we asked them out so that we would be able to comb the whole stadium with our EOD. We combed the whole area till day break” he stated.
The police boss expressed regret that a credible security alert issued by security authorities was politicised by some political actors in the state.
“In Kano every thing is politics. Nobody gave us directives to issue the security alert as alleged. You don’t need directives to do what is right. Assuming that when the signal came, we did nothing and something goes wrong at the stadium?
“How will the people look at us today? I certainly will not be here ..because the people who gave us the intelligence will say they had done their own part.” he stated.
While countering the state government position, the Commissioner observed that he was a Muslim of the Tijjaniyya sect and could not be used against the sect.
“I am a born Tijjaniyya. My forefathers were born Tijjaniyyas and I don’t think that I can stand against a Tijjaniyya occassion” he stated.
On Saturday, the security agencies in Kano State, including the Department of State Services, had issued a security alert confirming a plot to attack the state They cautioned the public against crowded places and environments.
However, on the same night, the state government through the State Commissioner of Information and Internal Affairs, Ibrahim Waiya put a lie to the alert, accusing the security agencies of irregularly blocking Sani Abacha Stadium
“This action is not only unnecessary but also unjustified, as there has been no report of any security threat in Kano State, that would warrant such an extreme measure” the government stated.
“The Kano State Government has not issued any complaints regarding insecurity, and we find the presence of security operatives at the venue of this significant religious activity unwarranted and unacceptable” they stated.
Any attempt to obstruct the process of organizing a lawful gathering like this, is not only an encrochment on the citizens right of lawful assembly” they added.
The state government urged the Federal Government to immediately withdrew its security agencies from the venue and allow the event to proceed without hindrance.