The federal government says it has received intelligence that a Boko Haram affiliate group, called “Muslim Brotherhood” in Kogi State, is plotting to carry out terror attacks in the country.
Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed raised the alarm in a statement issued on Friday in Abuja, saying the terror cell plans to attack banks, arms depots and prisons.
According to Mohammed, the intelligence report reveals that the cell was making efforts to improve its IED-making capability through the acquisition of chemicals like Sodium Oxide (for producing improvised detonators), Potassium Chlorate (alternative to ammonium nitrate used for producing IEDs) and Aluminium Powder (a fuel source for amplifying explosions).
“One Usman, an IED apprentice, left the cell some time back to join Islamic State in Libya. The new desire to acquire IED precursor chemicals could suggest that Usman or other persons may have returned from Libya and have acquired IED-making skills intended to increase the activities of the group,” Mohammed stated.
The Minister also said that the Muslim brotherhood terror cell was making efforts to acquire sophisticated arms, including shoulder-fired rocket launchers.
Earlier on Friday, some armed men attacked a police station at Eika community in Okehi Local Government Area of Kogi state, killing two policemen and a detainee.
The attackers numbering about 10 reportedly torched the police station before proceeding to the house of one of the community’s leaders, Sadiq Obomi, and killed him.
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Kogi State Police Commissioner, Abdulahi Chafe, confirmed the incident but said he will provide details later.
But Lai Mohammed’s statement indicated that “members of the Muslim Brotherhood are planning to forcefully free their members who are in detention in Kogi, Abuja and Kaduna, including one Bilyaminu, an IED expert for the group who is now at Kuje prison”.
He urged Nigerians to be vigilant and to report any suspicious persons or movements to the appropriate authorities.