How DSS foiled terrorists plot to bomb Abuja, Kano, 5 other states

The Department of State Services has said that the Islamic State of West Africa, a terrorist organisation, had plotted to conduct gun attacks and suicide bombings on selected targets in the Federal Capital Territory, Kano and five other states during the recent celebration of Eid-Kabir.

However, the DSS said that the plot was foiled after it arrested one of the suspects in Kano on August 31. The arrests further led to the apprehension of some other suspects who engaged in the evil plot.

This was revealed on Saturday by the DSS. It gave the names of the other states which the terrorists planned to attack as Kaduna, Niger, Bauchi, Yobe and Borno, adding that the objective was to cause mayhem and destruction that would have disrupted the Eid-Kabir festivities held between September 1 and 4.

DSS spokesperson, Mr. Tony Opuiyo, who disclosed this in a statement made available to newsmen further explained that Husseini Mai-Tangaran, a well known senior ISWA commander, was the mastermind of the plan.

According to Opuiyo, the suspect had been on the DSS and Nigeria Army radar since 2012. He was alleged to have led armed attacks on the office of the Assistant Inspector General of Police Zone I, on January 20, 2012, and some attacks in public places in Kano.

Mai-Tangaran was also accused of spearheading the deadly explosive attacks against worshippers at the Kano Central Mosque and the attack on a military formation in Yobe State in 2015 that left many dead.

Opuiyo explained that after the suspect was arrested in Kano on August 31, that his arrest led to the apprehension of one Abdulkadir Mohammed by the Service on September 2, at Kantin Kwari Market, Fagge, Kano.

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Opuiyo said, “Mohammed was a fighter of the sect who left the conclave of the group in the Sambisa forest, to join ranks with Ismaila towards carrying out the attacks being planned by the group.

“Also, another accomplice in the plot, one Muhammad Ali was arrested on September 3, at Sheka area in Kumbotso area of the state.

“Prior to his arrest, Ali was the financial courier of the group in Kano. He was one of the conduits through which funds and other material logistics were channeled to the group from foreign extremist elements/sponsors.
“Like Abdulkadir Mohammed, Ali was involved in the plot to perpetrate the planned attacks in Kano and other states in the North during the just concluded Eid-Kabir celebration,” Opuiyo said.

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