The police in Kano yesterday uncovered a site where suspected Boko Haram disciples manufacture bombs, just as the dreaded sect is making efforts to shift its operational base to the ancient city.
The locally manufactured bombs, according to the police, have the capacity to explode at a range of over 800Km per second.?
The state police commissioner, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris, who disclosed the development to newsmen at a press briefing in his office, said that four suspects were also arrested and were now helping the police in the course of their investigations.
“Although the arrest was made in Kano, but our discovery has shown that all those arrested are not from Kano. They were just in the state to cause panic and confusion among the people of the state,” the commissioner said, adding that the anger demonstrated by members of the community attests to that, as they attempted to mob the suspects and later led our men to conduct a thorough search of the area.
“Following a tip from members of the public from Unguwar Dabai and Rijiyar Zaki quarters in Kano metropolis, our search leads to the house of one Mohammed Ali, alias Hamza, in Darmanawa quarters where we made a huge discovery of chemicals for the manufacture of bombs and ammunition,” he said.? “In the last two weeks we have been working on an intelligence report from members of the general public and we swung into action as a result of which we were able to unravel the site of the locally manufactured bombs in the metropolis”.
Altogether, 14 suspects were arrested.
“In the course of investigation of these incidents, the police moved into the area and arrested a suspect, Yunusa Ahmed, and in his compound the police recovered bomb-detonating-head explosives, wires, some chemicals, audio cassettes of preaching by the late Mohammed Yusuf and some Arabic books,” the commissioner further disclosed.
A large quantity of highly explosive chemicals in a number of jerry cans, Ammonia Nitrates, timer, testers, salt and books were all recovered in the house of the suspect. He said all these substances were being used by the suspects to perpetrate their atrocities.
The police commissioner also disclosed that one of the policemen was shot dead while another was seriously injured in the ensuing gun battle with the suspected Boko Haram people.
Meanwhile, four suspected members of the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunnah Lidda’awati Wal Jihad or Boko Haram arrested in Kano by the police have narrated how they made and detonated highly explosive bombs.
The leader of the group, Mohammed Ali Alias Hamza, told the police that they pursue their operations through guerrilla tactics and attack the police by hide-and-seek.
Mohammed was arrested along with three others Ana Kyari, Ibrahim Ahmed and Tahir Mohammed. They were in Kano to do business and launch attacks on unsuspecting citizens, Mohammed told the police.
A gas cylinder that was found in the house of Mohammed, some quantity of chemicals such as super 90, ammonia nitrate, nitrogen, knock out, gunpowder, ordinary salt and urea are used to prepare highly explosive bombs that can shatter big structures and kill a lot of people at once, the suspects disclosed.
The suspects were arrested with five drums of highly explosive dynamites and chemicals that were meant for suicide bombing while several cylinders, barometers and timers were discovered with them along with six AK 47 rifles, nine magazines and a number of other explosives.
When the police swooped on them, four of the suspects were arrested, a number of them fled while one, Alhaji Kyari of Gwammaja Quarters, is now on the run, the police disclosed.
The bombers also use a safety fuse and increase the power and sensitivity of the detonators before they can launch them, they claimed.
Residents of Darmanawa Quarters have started vacating their homes in search of safe havens. Some of the residents who spoke with our reporter said that their safety is paramount and that they could not wait to fall victims of heavy explosions in the area.
Eye witnesses who witnessed the recent ensuing battle between the police and the suspected Boko Haram disciples have already fled their residences. They told our correspondent that they would return after the dust has settled.???????????
Just recently, the group threatened to launch attacks on Kano and warned: “Recently, security agencies have launched a fresh onslaught on some of our members in Kano city in which even women and children were not spared. Many houses were raided and a pregnant woman was manhandled. Some of our members were tortured with electric shock. All these things happened in Kano, a city that we hold with high esteem.”
In a related development, Boko Haram group yesterday confirmed that three of its members were killed by their own bombs in Saturday’s explosion in Shuwari, Maiduguri, Borno State.
Spokesman of the group, Mallam Abul Qaqa, made the confirmation in a telephone conference with journalists in Maiduguri on Sunday.
“We have hundreds of members that are willing to sacrifice their lives in this crusade; the unfortunate incident of Saturday will not discourage us; if anything, it will encourage us to strategise and diversify our techniques because we are not afraid of death,” Qaqa said.
The Joint Task Force (JTF) on Operation Restore Order had told journalists on Saturday that three suspected members of the group died in an early morning explosion at Shuwari in Maiduguri.
The Public Relations Officer of the JTF, Lt. Col. Hassan Ifijeh told journalists that large quantities of unused Improvised Explosive Devices, AK-47 rifles, ammunitions and other vital items were recovered from the scene of the blast.
He said that three unidentified mutilated bodies of suspected Boko Haram militants suspected to be running the illegal bomb making factory were also found.
The Boko Haram spokesman said “hundreds of our members were killed in 2009, but we remain resolute.”
?