It was a big setback for the Boko Haram terrorist group as two suspected members were nabbed in their hide-out in Lagos, South-West Nigeria, during a surprise raid by a joint security team.

Boko Haram originates from the north and has concentrated its activities there but is believed to be desperate to also hit the south, starting with Lagos, the country’s economic hub and former capital.

An apparent attempt by the group to set up a base in Lagos was thwarted yesterday when, acting on a tip-off, a crack team of the Operation Mesa (OP Mesa), a joint security force comprising members of the armed forces and the State Security Service (SSS), raided the Ijora 7-UP area of Lagos and took away two suspected Boko Haram members. The suspects, one a northern Muslim and the other a Chadian, are said to have been moved to Abuja, the Nigerian capital, for interrogation by SSS headquarters.

The suspects, who were said to have rented the house about a month ago, “concealed some devices suspected to be explosives in boxes, which were stacked in the ceiling of a house they were occupying,” according to a ThisDay report. “Also recovered alongside the suspected explosives were two AK47 rifles.”

Reacting to the development, the spokesperson, 81 Division, Nigerian Army, Colonel Kingsley Umoh, said: “The Op Mesa as you know is a joint security body and they carried out their routine raids yesterday and made some arrests. The raids are simply a part of those that are carried out everyday based on information at our disposal.

“The raids give the public confidence that we, the security bodies, are working. It is the way OP Mesa was designed and once our sources tip us off, we swing into action, and thus far, our sources have proven to be credible.”
On his part, Lagos State Director of the SSS, Achu Olayi, confirmed the raid to Vanguard but said it was too soon to say if the suspects were Boko Haram members or not. He could also not disclose the type of ammunition recovered during the raid.

•Photo courtesy Vanguard shows residents at the building used as hideout by the suspected Boko Haram members at Ijora, Lagos.

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