• Police caution against picking 1-pad, phones, laptops not kept by self
Five persons were yesterday paraded at the premises of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and later arraigned at the Federal High Court, Abuja for allegedly masterminding the twin bomb blasts in Kuje and Nyanya on October2, 2015.
There was a mild drama at the court as one of the suspects, Abdulwaheed Nasiru, pleaded guilty. Nasiru, who was arrested alongside other accused persons behind Military Cemetery along Airport Road in Abuja on October 6 pleaded guilty, and told the court that he had in his possession materials used for making Improvised Explosive Devices and 12 already made ones.
The accused, who was the fourth in the charges, had, along with the fifth accused person, Abdullahi Nasiru, pleaded with the court to allow the charges to be interpreted to them in Pidgin English. He was repeatedly asked if he understood the charges and he maintained that he was guilty. The others identified as Abdulazeez Muhazab, Ishaka Salihu and Mohammed Jimoh, however, pleaded not guilty.
Justice Abdukadir Abdulkafarati ordered the accused persons to be moved from police custody to prison.
Earlier, while parading the suspects, Police said the SARS, working on a tip-off, led a joint operation and arrested the suspects at three separate locations, in Karmajiji and Iddo, both off Umar Musa Yar’Adua Expressway commonly called Airport Road in Abuja, and in a Dan Asato village in Suleja, Niger State.
The suspects, who were all from Okene in Kogi State, were paraded along with different bomb making equipment and agents, empty tins of canned drinks, a laptop, and textbooks on fundamentals of engineering and engineering materials properties and selection, among others.
Later in his office, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Solomon Arase, confirmed that “after careful and discreet investigations into the recent bombings that took place in some parts of Abuja, the Nigeria Police Force will on October 22, 2015(later yesterday) take the suspects to the Federal High Court, Abuja for prosecution.”
The IGP said the arrest of the suspects was made possible by what he described as proactive nature of the newly formed Intelligence Response Team. He urged Nigerians to avoid the temptation of picking 1-pad, phones or laptops not kept by them, as terrorists now use these items in manufacturing bombs, knowing their attractions and need to the people.
Meanwhile the IGP has directed that all policemen serving as escorts, mostly to financial institutions, should stop wearing uniforms as from 1st January 2016 as a special uniform is being designed for them.
The Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Olabisi Kolawole, said the directive to companies using Supernumerary Police (SPY) nationwide to stop the use of police uniform for their operations was given as part of the new measures to strengthen security around the country.
In a statement, he said the directive was given at the meeting with security managers of companies using SPY Police for their internal security. He noted this measure is aimed at curtailing activities of criminally-minded persons who disguise in police uniform to perpetrate nefarious activities.
It was gathered that a newly designed grey and black trousers has been approved as the new uniform to be worn by spy police officers nationwide
