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| Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed |
The Federal Government on Friday raised the alarm that a Boko Haram affiliate, Muslim Brotherhood, is planning massive attacks on banks, arms depots and prisons.
It said the group through its cell in Kogi State was trying to acquire bomb-making chemicals and high-calibre weapons to perpetrate acts of terror.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the alert followed intelligence made available to the government.
The statement said: “The cell is making frantic efforts to advance its IED-making capability through the acquisition of such chemicals as Sodium Azide (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.
“Intelligence also revealed that the group is making serious efforts to acquire sophisticated arms, including shoulder-fired rocket launchers.
”Further intelligence monitoring has revealed 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.
Mohammed appealed to Nigerians to be vigilant and to report any suspicious persons or movements to the appropriate authorities.
Boko Haram and some of its affiliates have established cells in some parts of Kogi State.
On January 10, the Department of State Security Service ( DSS) arrested a kingpin of the sect in Okene town, Adavi local government area of Kogi State.
Identified as Abdullahi Mohammed, he was said to be the leader of the Boko Haram sect in Okene and was responsible for the coordination of Boko Haram activities in Okene axis of Kogi State.
On October 13, about 10 suspected Islamic fundamentalists were killed near Lokoja in Kogi State during a bloody encounter between an Islamic sect and men of the Nigerian Army.
