Plot to Bomb Lagos

The recent arrest and deportation of scores of aliens at Ijora Badıa, a suburb of Lagos State, should serve as a sad reminder of the porous nature of Nigerian borders and the challenge it poses to national security.

At least 93 suspected terrorists believed to have link with the Islamic fundamentalist sect, Boko Haram, were paraded by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).

Many of the suspects are Chadians, Malians and Nıgerıens. Their arrest followed a tip-off and raid of a building jointly carried out by an enhanced military patrol called OP MESSA and the Department of State Security Service. Dangerous arms and ammunition, including AK 47 rifles and some explosives, were recovered from the ceiling of the building where the arrests were made.

This development signposts looming danger in Lagos, the commercial nerve centre of the country. The lesson is simple: More than ever before, our security agencies must come to terms with the fact that illegal immigrants constitute a clear danger to life, property, peace and orderliness in any country, especially in these times that terrorism has become one of the greatest global problems.

Regrettably, in the case of Nigeria, the problem is that our security agencies are not proactive. They would prefer to react to crises rather than take strategic plans that will nıp potential dangers in the bud. Perhaps it was the recent carnage at a popular inter-state motor park in Kano in which scores of people were killed that prompted the renewed search for potential hideouts in Lagos.

While we commend the efforts of security operatives in bursting the hideout of the suspected terrorists at Ijora Badıa, Lagos, we reiterate the importance of intelligence gathering and counter-intelligence operations in the fight against terrorism. In that regard, deporting some of the suspects as the ımmıgratıon service has done will do little to unravel the intricacies of the matter.

Rather, the security agencies should be interested in knowing how the weapons arrived at the hideouts in Lagos. Our security agencies need a reality check, and need to dig deep on how terrorists seem to be always a step ahead of them.

This is why Boko Haram-once a small religious sect has become a flexible dynamic organısatıon capable of changing tactics and targets. Arguably, Boko Haram’s urban guerrilla tactics now represent a big challenge which the security operatives are trying to cope with. The Boko Haram tactic may have been adopted by the suspected terrorists arrested in Lagos.

That may explain their infiltration into Lagos without the knowledge of security operatives until now. As a matter of fact, the confessional statement by one of the suspects may have provided a good clue to our security agencies to ponder and work with regarding the porous nature of our borders that permits the influx of aliens into the country.

This is what one of the deported suspects, Amadu from Republic of Niger reportedly said: “I came in through Kebbı State…I always pass through there because no one will stop you, I will still find my way back to Nigeria”. Clearly, this is the problem with our borders.

Government’s security network appears to have failed to tackle this lapse. Assurances by government remain largely unfulfilled, and the country is under siege by terrorists.

Moreover, the revelation before the Senate by the Security chiefs that the plot to bomb Lagos was real requires new tactics. In the face of the regular attacks by insurgents, we have had reasons to bemoan government’s apparent incapacity to arrest the slide in security in spite of the arsenal at the disposal of the security agencies.

But the plot to bomb Lagos should serve as a wake-up call on the part of security agencies to rise to the occasion. They have a responsibility to secure not only Lagos, but the entire country.