Another major terrorist attack in the city of Kano was prevented by security operatives who raided the hideouts of the terrorists, killing 14 of them and seizing a cache of weapons.
The Joint Task Force (JTF) acting on a tip-off, were said to have raced to the Unguwa Uku area of the ancient city and intercepted a Volkswagen Golf car around 4am, primed with explosives, which the explosives had intended for use during the Easter celebration in the city.
Residents of the area said that after that, the soldiers then invaded a compound housing the said terrorists, but were met with explosions before engaging in a four-hour gunfight with them.
One of the residents said he was not sure if the terrorists were killed by the blasts from their Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) or from the gunfire exchange with the security operatives.
He added that bodies were seen being carried out of one of the buildings in the compound raided by the operatives while 14 AK 47 rifles, 10 peak milk-size IEDs, four drums of 50-litre primed explosives and 51 other items in small drums were recovered.
The houses were thereafter demolished while the corpses were taken to a morgue.
Security operatives said that a top terrorist commander, whom they did not name, had been arrested in the raid.
The spokesman of the JTF in Kano, Ikedi Iweha was quoted as saying that the task force killed 14 Boko Haram suspects in the raid.
The Brigade Commander 3 Motorised Brigade, Bukavu Barracks, Kano, Brig.-Gen. Iliyasu Abba, confirmed the incident.
“My men on search operations in the wee hours of this(Sunday) morning at Layin Yan’awaki, Ungwa –Uku general area suddenly came under fire from terrorists that triggered a gunfire,” he said while conducting journalists round the scene.
“It was an opportunity to demonstrate our superior fire power, and the gallant officers and men gave a good account of themselves but unfortunately we lost one of our soldiers and another one was injured.”
As at 4am, the area was still cordoned off by security operatives.
The incident spread panic through many Christians, causing them to cancel going for their Easter services due to fear, despite the high presence of security operatives in the metropolis.
Churches like Our Lady of Fatima, St Louis, St Thomas’, St Stephen’s, St. Georges and Holy Trinity had low turnout of worshippers while those in Hotoro, Mariri and Badawa areas did not open.
Before the raid, JTF operatives and policemen had been deployed in strategic locations in the city. Armoured Personnel Carriers were also seen patrolling the flash points.
Meanwhile, in the city of Jos, Plateau State, the much-advertised rally to mark the end of the Easter festivities did not hold as church leaders advised their followers to go back to their homes and celebrate quietly.
Many of them had gathered in front of the headquarters of the Church Of Christ In Nigeria to begin the procession that would have terminated at the Rwang Pam Stadium when they were given the advice.
The rally, which was organised by the state branch of the Christian Association of Nigeria, was abandoned after the police warned against it.
This was due to clashes in the suburbs of the city, which necessitated a high security alert.
However, in his Sunday Easter message at the Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church, Archbishop of Jos, Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama, urged Christians not to see the end of the Lenten period as a time to go back to their old ways, but to continue to allow the spirit of Christ to be in them.
He admonished them to imbibe the spirit of forgiveness, which the period signifies.
“All the troubles we have in Nigeria is because we have not allowed the spirit of Christ to take charge of our lives. Therefore, as we celebrate Easter, we should look up at that Cross of Calvary, where Christ hung more than 2,000 years ago and reflect on the essence of that sacrifice,” the cleric said.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Chris Olakpe, has called on warring parties to shun hatred and to come out for genuine dialogue in order to curb the growing insecurity in the state.
Olakpe stated this on Sunday in Jos when Isoko people living in Jos hosted him.
Earlier,the President of Isoko Development Union in Plateau State, Mr. Ezekiel Udubrae, had assured the commissioner that the Isoko would avail him with any information that would enable him succeed in the state.
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