Another suspected hideout of terrorists has been uncovered by security agencies in Lagos, curiously enough, on the same street as the one that was raided last week on Aromire Street, Ijora by a combined team from the police, army and the State Security Services.
A three-storey building said to be owned with government and housed illegal aliens from Mali and Chad, and close to the house which was raided last week and found to contain arms and explosives and led to the arrest of five suspected terrorists.
This comes as the Ojora of Ijora, Oba FataiAromire ordered the leaders of the Hausa community to call their people to order and not cause restiveness in his domain.
He made this call when the leaders of the Hausa community in Lagos, led by the Seriki Hausa of Lagos State, AlhajiSaniKadiriGaruba paid him a visit in his palace.
The monarch said that if bombings had happened there, the casualties would have been worse than all the previous ones. He also blamed the government which owns the three-storey building for the development, as it is housing squatters.
“You see, this problem comes from the state government that owns that property. If you go to the house in Ijora, you will see all these Malians there.
“They are squatters and we have written to the state government concerned several times without any response. Ask the Area Commander and the DPO, they will tell you. On our part, we are trying our best,” he said.
He then spoke bluntly to the Seriki Hausa to call his people in Lagos, particularly those in Ijora.
He said, “I am not happy with what happened because your people have been living with us here since. I have been here since 1994 and this kind of thing had never happened.
“We have been taking your people as brothers and sisters. You don’t have to turn back and do this kind of thing to us. Do something because I am not happy at all. Since that day (last Thursday), I have not been sleeping. Please, let this stop. I am giving them warning. Ijora is a no-go area for them.
“If they still remain in Ijora, I will flush them out, Insha Allah. They should not use Ijora as a base. Ijora is not a base for criminals. I do not tolerate nonsense. Please, I am giving them warning again, they should leave my domain. My domain is not meant for criminals. I am talking to you (Seriki).
“Please, call your men to order. Lagos is a no go area for bombings. These people referred to as Malians, Nigeriens live with your people. Please, talk to your Serikis.”
The Seriki Hausa and Chairman, Council of Arewa Chiefs in Lagos, explained that the purpose of the visit was to commiserate with the Oba on what he described as a sad incident and to pledge the solidarity of northerners under the Arewa councils of chiefs as peace-loving people.
He said: “We will also like to seize this opportunity to emphasise that for intensive security in our nation, we appeal to the Federal Government to do more. Although it is trying its best to check the menace, we urge them to intensify and broaden their security scope, so that this kind of thing will never happen again.
“Lagos is a mini Nigeria and anything that happened to Lagos will affect the whole nation. Finally, I will like to also appeal to other agencies and nationalities with the state to be calm and patient as we continue to live in harmony with each other.”
Another Hausa leader, the AjeremiIfelodun, AlhajiAdamuAbubakar, said though the people arrested were not Hausa, they had come to show solidarity with the Ojora.
He said, “Today’s meeting is a kind of press conference in respect of what happened in Ijora within the domain of Oba FataiAromire. We came to tell him that we Northerners, especially Arewa, that we are not happy with what happened.
“Although, the man whose apartment the bomb was found is not a Nigerian, we came to prove to him that no Nigerian; no northerner will carry do such a nasty thing within Lagos State and by the grace of God, we pray it will never happen again.”
Meanwhile, a total of 93 illegal aliens were, yesterday, handed over to the Nigerian Immigration Service, Alagbon, Ikoyi, for onward prosecution.
The aliens, whose mission in the country could not be ascertained, were mainly Malians, Nigeriens and Chadians who were arrested following a raid by joint security operatives after the discovery of a suspected terrorists’ hideout in Ijora area of Lagos, last Thursday.
The spokesman for the Nigeria Immigration Service, Mr. Muyiwa Odunubi confirmed the arrests and added that the suspects would be paraded tomorrow by the Command.
He said: “I can confirm to you that we received 93 suspected Boko Haram members, who were handed over to us by the Police and other security agencies.”