70 Boko Haram Suspects Moved To Kirikiri •Kill Police Inspector, District Head •Security Beefed Up
Following transfer of about 70 suspected Boko Haram Islam sect members from northern part of the country, security measures around the Maximum Security Prison, Kirikiri, Apapa, Lagos State, may have been tightened on the orders of the Federal Government.
Saturday Tribune gathered that the suspects, who are awaiting trials, were said to have been recently transferred to Lagos from different prison custodies and police stations in parts of the northern Nigeria to ensure maximum security.
It was further learnt that the Federal Government might have instructed both the Nigeria Prison Service (NPS) and the Nigeria Police High Command to take the suspected Islamic fundamentalists to the Maximum Security Prisons, Lagos in order to prevent further attacks on the prisons and police stations by some members of the sect who are still at large.
A visit by the Saturday Tribune to the Kirikri on Thursday revealed that the prisons authorities and their Naval counterparts had instructed their personnel to tighten security measures around the prison because of unforeseen circumstances.
At the Nigeria Prison Co-operative Society’s multipurpose shop along Kirikiri Road, stern looking prison guards were seen conducting stop and search routine duty on motorists and commercial motorcyclists.
They were asking motorists to identify themselves as well as open the booths of their cars for a search to be conducted before they were allowed to proceed on their journey towards the Nigerian Navy Town, Ojoo.
However, none of the officials of the prisons service could speak on the matter when Saturday Tribune visited on Friday as they all claimed that they were not allowed to talk with the press for security reasons.
A source informed Saturday Tribune that the measure was to ensure that no strange objects were taken to the prison premises without a proper check being conducted on such a person or groups of persons who might have brought the objects.
The source, who craved for anonymity, stated that since the awaiting trial Boko Haram suspects were brought to Lagos, every prison officials and their counterparts Naval personnel had reinforced security in their respective areas of responsibilities, with the view that no one breaks into the prisons custody to forcibly release the suspects from protective custodies.
Meanwhile, A police inspector, Maina Kadai, was, on Friday morning, in Maiduguri, Borno State, shot dead by gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram religious sect.
The officer, attached to the convoy of the state governor, was reportedly gunned down at about 7.00 a.m. while he was on his way to his duty post at the Government House.
An eyewitness said the assailants waylaid the deceased at a railway crossing around the state Low Cost Housing Estate and opened fire on him as soon as he got to the location on his motorcycle.
A police source said that the gunmen might have had the movement of the inspector monitored before carrying out the act.
The district head of Mairari in the metropolis was also reportedly killed in a separate attack on Thursday night.
Saturday Tribune observed that the police intensified the stop-and-search operation on Friday in some parts of the state, especially Maiduguri, even as pedestrians were frisked.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Abdullahi Lawal, told journalists that the checkpoints were mounted in an effort to curb the menace of Boko Haram.
Saturday Tribune gathered that the suspects, who are awaiting trials, were said to have been recently transferred to Lagos from different prison custodies and police stations in parts of the northern Nigeria to ensure maximum security.
It was further learnt that the Federal Government might have instructed both the Nigeria Prison Service (NPS) and the Nigeria Police High Command to take the suspected Islamic fundamentalists to the Maximum Security Prisons, Lagos in order to prevent further attacks on the prisons and police stations by some members of the sect who are still at large.
A visit by the Saturday Tribune to the Kirikri on Thursday revealed that the prisons authorities and their Naval counterparts had instructed their personnel to tighten security measures around the prison because of unforeseen circumstances.
At the Nigeria Prison Co-operative Society’s multipurpose shop along Kirikiri Road, stern looking prison guards were seen conducting stop and search routine duty on motorists and commercial motorcyclists.
They were asking motorists to identify themselves as well as open the booths of their cars for a search to be conducted before they were allowed to proceed on their journey towards the Nigerian Navy Town, Ojoo.
However, none of the officials of the prisons service could speak on the matter when Saturday Tribune visited on Friday as they all claimed that they were not allowed to talk with the press for security reasons.
A source informed Saturday Tribune that the measure was to ensure that no strange objects were taken to the prison premises without a proper check being conducted on such a person or groups of persons who might have brought the objects.
The source, who craved for anonymity, stated that since the awaiting trial Boko Haram suspects were brought to Lagos, every prison officials and their counterparts Naval personnel had reinforced security in their respective areas of responsibilities, with the view that no one breaks into the prisons custody to forcibly release the suspects from protective custodies.
Meanwhile, A police inspector, Maina Kadai, was, on Friday morning, in Maiduguri, Borno State, shot dead by gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram religious sect.
The officer, attached to the convoy of the state governor, was reportedly gunned down at about 7.00 a.m. while he was on his way to his duty post at the Government House.
An eyewitness said the assailants waylaid the deceased at a railway crossing around the state Low Cost Housing Estate and opened fire on him as soon as he got to the location on his motorcycle.
A police source said that the gunmen might have had the movement of the inspector monitored before carrying out the act.
The district head of Mairari in the metropolis was also reportedly killed in a separate attack on Thursday night.
Saturday Tribune observed that the police intensified the stop-and-search operation on Friday in some parts of the state, especially Maiduguri, even as pedestrians were frisked.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Abdullahi Lawal, told journalists that the checkpoints were mounted in an effort to curb the menace of Boko Haram.
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