Police attached to the Federal Criminal Investigation Department, FCID, Alagbon, Lagos State, have begun a manhunt for a South African national based in Nigeria (names withheld) in connection with alleged espionage which poses a security threat to the Nigerian government.
The suspect who is the managing director of a company that deals on security services was alleged to have ventured into vehicle tracking, a sensitive security system without obtaining an operational licence from the Nigeria Communication Commission, NCC.
The police stormed the company’s office located in Ikoyi, Lagos, to arrest firm’s boss and his accomplices, for illegal car tracking.
Crime Watch gathered that the company boss escaped and ran out of Nigeria when he suspected he could be arrested.
The police, however, succeeded in arresting the company’s human resources manager.
Crime Watch gathered that the company obtained a licence for security service in Nigeria in 2008, but went into vehicle tracking without getting approval from the NCC.
The action of the police followed a petition to Inspector General of Police on the activies of some companies operating illegal vehicle tracking in Nigeria.
They are now facing charges of espionage, security threat and illegal operation in Nigeria.
When Crime Watch visited the company, the senior staff including the MD were absent.
But the arrested human resources manager who is now on bail confirmed her arrest.
She denied that the company was a security threat to Nigerian government, saying they were authorised to do legitimate business in Nigeria.
She disclosed that the company directors were out of the country and will go to FCID to clear the allegation when they return.
Efforts by Crime Watch to contact top officials of NCC proved abortive.
However, sources told our correspondent that there has been some companies dealing in car tracking business in Nigeria without obtaining licence from the NCC.
When Crime Watch contacted the police at Alagbon, sources confirmed the incident, saying the police have started full investigation into the matter.
Police arrest 5 suspected armed robbers in Kano.
A combined team of detectives from the Kano State Police Command and the Special Vigilance Group led by Alhaji Ali Kwara has arrested five suspected armed robbers in Kano.
A statement from the Police Public Relations' Officer (PPRO) of the command, Magaji Majiya, said the hoodlums were apprehended on Tuesday in their hideout in the outskirts of Kano metropolis following a tip-off.
The statement, which was issued on Wednesday said that the suspects were arrested with severe bullet wounds after an exchange of fire between them and the police team.
It said that the suspects confessed to have robbed at the Singer Market and Wapa Bureau de Change Market in Kano last year.
According to the statement, the suspects have also confessed to have carried out a bank robbery operation recently in Katsina State.
It said that, during the raid, three AK47 rifles and hundreds of live ammunition were recovered, while investigation was still on-going
Bomb Scare: Security Still Lax At Lagos Airport.
Planes continued to take off and land at the Murtala Muhammed Airport today after a bomb scare last night that threw Nigeria’s busiest aerodrome into pandemonium.
The airport was thrown into chaos and panic at about 7.30 p.m. yesterday as anti-bomb experts struggled to determine the content of an unclaimed bag suspected to be cntaining a bomb.
Security was still lax at the airport, with about 70 percent of international air passengers passing through here.
It was observed that the two roads leading to the six-storey terminal building did not have police presence and were devoid of anti-bomb detector devices.
At the main entrance to the airport, it was observed, passengers and other airport users were not frisked and luggage were not opened or searched.
Our correspondent further observed that the two car parks could easily be accessed as there was no metal detector nor search of vehicles coming in.
Along the airport roads, business was normal with students of Kole Best International School, doing their physical exercises by the roadside.
Inside the terminal building, business went on as usual, with restaurants, shops , a pharmacy and other outlets operating unperturbed though with anxious workers.
Construction workers were seen even as some entry points into the terminal building have been restricted.
An airport worker said sarcastically that only God protects airport users and not security operatives.
“When I came in, who searched me to know if I was carrying a bomb or a Boko Haram member?” he asked, echoing what others said.
Yesterday’s bomb scare started at about 7:30 p.m. and lasted for about an hour, sources said.
The police cordoned off the area to examine the bag that later turned out a hoax.
The confusion, a news report said today, deepened after the bag emitted a loud sound while the anti-bomb policemen were trying to open it.
On hearing the bang, those present at the airport at the time reportedly took to their heels.
However, after it was opened by men of the anti-bomb squad the bag was discovered to contain the personal effects of a British Airways passenger.
Boko Haram has threatened to bomb Lagos, Nigeria’s largest state and tension seems to be heightening by the day.
No comments:
Post a Comment