The various security agencies in the country have been placed on a red alert following reports that Boko Haram insurgents were plotting to attack Abuja, the nation’s capital.
Defence Headquarters said on Sunday that the Armed Forces and other security agencies would ensure effective surveillance of the Federal Capital Territory and other states of the country.
A security report from the Nigeria Customs Service had in a security report raised the alarm that members of the Boko Haram terrorist group have infiltrated the FCT to carry out coordinated attacks on five identified locations.
The Customs had listed Kunyam Bush along airport road off DIA Staff Quarters, Abuja; Robochi/Gwagwalada Forest; Kwaku forest, Kuje, Abuja; Unaisha forest in Toto Local Government of Nasarawa State and Gegu forest, close to Idu town in Kogi State, as some of the areas where the terrorists had reportedly set up their camps.
But Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. John Enenche, in a statement on Sunday, assured Nigerians that preventive and pre-emptive intelligence was ongoing to thwart the plot.
The statement titled, ‘Security alert: Defence headquarters assures residents of FCT and adjoining states of safety,’ stated, “The Armed Forces of Nigeria working together with other security and response agencies, particularly the core intelligence agencies, hereby assure the general public that preventive and pre-emptive intelligence is ongoing. The general public is thus advised to go about their lawful businesses undeterred.”
The statement further said that the offensives against the common enemies of the nation would not cease until normalcy is restored in all parts of the country.
FCT Police Command also reassured members of the public that it had deployed proactive intelligence-gathering mechanism and crime-fighting measures to beef up security in Abuja.
The command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Anjuguri Manzah, in a statement, said it is also working in synergy with other security agencies “in the ongoing effort to strengthen security in the FCT.”