OCTOBER 23, 2015 : ADELANI ADEPEGBA AND AFEEZ HANAFI

The police have arrested three additional suspects allegedly
involved in the multiple blasts in Nyanya and Kuje, two satellite
towns in the Federal Capital Territory, on October 2, 2015.
The blast claimed about 20 lives.
The suspects were paraded on Thursday at the Special Anti-
Robbery Squad Headquarters in Abuja, where several bomb-
making materials recovered from them were also displayed.
The police had earlier announced the arrest of Abdulazeez
Muhazab and Ishaka Salihu, but the force paraded five suspects
including Mohammed Jimoh, Abdulwaheed Nasiru and Abdullahi
Nasiru, who were apprehended at various locations in Abuja.
A police source said the suspects, who are between the ages of
26 and 34 years, were picked up in three locations, adding that a
special task force investigating the bombings traced the
masterminds to Karamajiji village, along the Airport Road,
Abuja.
“On further investigation after the arrest of the first suspect in
Karamajiji, other suspects were picked up in Iddo village, also
along Airport Road and Gaulaka area in Suleja, Niger State,” the
source said.
He also said the suspects had confessed to being part of a
terrorist group with the intention of carrying out bombings
around Abuja.
He added that the bomb-making materials were recovered from
two of the houses used by the terrorists, while other
accomplices mentioned by the suspects were still at large.
The suspects were later arraigned at the Federal High Court in
Abuja on five charges bordering on terrorism, conspiracy,
accessory to acts of terrorism and act preparatory to an act of
terrorism.
Meanwhile, a Joint Task Force, comprising the personnel of the
police, Department of State Services, the military and the Nigeria
Security and Civil Defence Corps, has arrested about 30
suspects during a raid at a black spot in Nyanya.
The task force, which was set up by the Inspector-General of
Police, Solomon Arase, was said to have carried out the arrests
as part of strategies to prevent crimes.
The Force Public Relations Officer, Olabisi Kolawole, confirmed
that the task force raided the satellite town following an
intelligence report that some crime suspects might be hiding
there.
She said, “Yes, a Joint Task Force, comprising the police, DSS,
the military and the civil defence corps carried out an operation
in Nyanya and arrested some suspects. The task force was set
up by the IG and it was being led by the police.
“The suspects that were arrested are currently being processed;
the operation was meant to prevent crime and frustrate
criminals before they commit crimes and it will continue
throughout the FCT.”
In a related development, a professor of Computer Science,
Olumide Adewale, has urged the Federal Government to invest in
information and communication technology to combat terrorism
in the country.
Adewale, who is the Head of Department, Federal University of
Technology, Akure in Ondo State, said technological devices like
wearable devices which could be used to detect and disable
bombs should be provided by the government.
The don gave the advice on Wednesday during the institution’s
72nd inaugural lecture, noting that the wave of suicide
bombings in some parts of the country posed a threat to its
economic development.
He said, “The Federal Government needs to take a proactive
stance in combating the scourge of terrorism in the country by
investing in the development and provision of bomb detector
and wearable devices that could be used to detect and disable
bombs carried by suicide bombers. Our economy hinges on
adequate security and the current trend of suicide bombings is a
great threat to foreign investors.”
Adewale added that wearable bomb detective devices would
enable security operatives to have a foreknowledge of any
impeding bombing and nip it in the bud.
“Wearable devices worn by security operatives will have radii of
operation and effectiveness such that suicide bombers within
the perimeter of any security operative wearing the device will
be detected.
“The operative will be alerted either by an alarm signal with
coordinates of the suicide bomber. Through the device, he can
then disable the bomb before it is detonated,” he said.
Adewale, who spoke on the topic, “Convergence in Divergence in
Information Technology: a Symbiosis,” also canvassed for a
strategy that would bring government at all levels, industry and
universities together to further develop research output that
could translate into ICT-based security measures for the
country.