The police have embarked on massive apprehends of illicit immigrants in Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Kwara, Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa states, among others, as a component of measures to avert the Boko Haram terrorist group from spreading its attacks to the states.
Saturday PUNCH learnt from a police source that the Force embarked on the apprehends of sizably voluminous number of aliens in Lagos State as a way of flushing out those perceived to be security threats.
This followed an assailment allegedly carried out by a female suicide bomber in Apapa area of the state on June 25.
The source designated that hundreds of such aliens had been raided by the police from different components of the state.
Though Boko Haram has been operating only in northern Nigeria, latest security reports designate that the sect’s foot soldiers had infiltrated other components of the country.
It was learnt that since the assailment in Lagos, police as well as the Nigeria Immigration Accommodation stepped up efforts armed at apprehending illicit immigrants by visiting parks and areas heavily populated by these immigrants.
But the spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, Ngozi Braide, told one of our correspondents that the apprehend of the aliens and illicit immigrants was not unorthodox, describing it as a “routine.”
She verbally expressed, “It is not incipient. We go to uncompleted buildings customarily to raid aliens. It is just part of our mundane exercise targeted at ridding the state of illicitness.”
Spokesperson for the Ogun State Police command, Mr. Muyiwa Adejobi, verbalized, “We are vigilant that there may be pockets of Boko Haram insurgents here. We are working predicated on that cognizance. It is only sensible to cerebrate that if the North is becoming too sultry for the insurgents, they may want to come down South. But the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ikemefuna Okoye, has put in place strategies for this reason.
“Arresting illicit immigrants is just one of the many options available to us. Other security agencies are currently working with us on these strategies to ascertain that we do not experience any bellicose attack.”
Saturday PUNCH investigation additionally revealed that the police had embarked on about 50 raids of identified sultry spots in Kwara State within the past six months to forestall the incursion of members of the Boko Haram fighters.
The Police Public Cognations Officer, Kwara State Command, Mr. Ajayi Okasanmi, in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents, verbalized that the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ambrose Aisabor, had invigorated strategies aimed at obviating the pernicious sect from infiltrating the state.
He verbalized, “We are not leaving any stone unturned to ascertain that there is no infiltration of insurgents in the state. We have raided some sultry spots in the state for over 50 times within the last six months. We have good relationship with members of the public who provide us with subsidiary perspicacity.” The Ondo State Police Command, in same vein, verbally expressed that it was working with the Nigerian Immigration Accommodation to ascertain immigrants were scrutinised to obviate malefactors from gaining access to vital areas and threatening the security of the state.
The command’s spokesperson, Wole Ogodo, verbalized, that viewing centres considered unsafe were advised to close down so that terrorists do not find them as soft spots to cause mayhem during the perpetual FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
“It is not just a blanket shut down; we advised them not to open because such places may not be safe. It is an advice,” Ogodo verbalized.
In May, a joint taskforce in Akwa Ibom State raided markets and stalls in Itu and apprehended dozens of immigrants who were later handed over to the Nigeria Immigration Accommodation for verification and possible repatriation.
Saturday PUNCH investigation revealed that 612 eccentric immigrants were apprehended in Akwa Ibom and repatriated to their sundry countries of inchoations in May, 2014. The state NIS Comptroller, Mr. Abdullahi Garba, in Uyo during the week admonished employers of labour against patronising the accommodations of eccentric immigrants, integrating that they might be baits utilized by terrorist groups to carry out attacks on innocent citizens.
The Public Cognations Officer, Akwa Ibom State Police Command, Mr. Etim Dickson, verbally expressed, “We have a bomb disposal unit that takes care of anything gaseous or more. Although this incidence has not occurred in the state, we have taken a number of precautions like situating our bomb disposal unit in public places such as motor parks, churches, airports, seaports or any other place that magnetizes sizably voluminous amassments.”
According to Saturday PUNCH investigation, Oyo State Police Command are additionally working underground to rid the state of aliens, illicit immigrants and people of disputable characters.
In the last few weeks, plain clothed policemen have been present at major markets and bus stations. They mingle with the crowd but look out for their targets. The targets are people who could be standing idly in public places.
A detective, who asked not to be designated, verbally expressed, “The police will not tell you what they are doing to ascertain security. Such information is relegated. It is top secret. But one of the quantifications the police are inserting place is to pick people suspected of being idle, especially in markets, bus ceases and public places where many people are found concurrently. That is the kind of target that the terrorists pick as target points in order to get maximum casualty figure.
Bayelsa State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hilary Opara, verbalized the police ascendant entities in the state had sensitised members of the public to monitor their environment, homes and business premises.
On raiding of aliens, the police boss verbalized the command was liasing with the Immigration ascendant entities in the state.
Opara integrated, “Actually, the Nigeria Immigration Accommodation has apprehended persons that do not have genuine papers residing in Bayelsa.
“Those who have uncompleted buildings have been asked to either consummate them or evict those residing there illicitly.”
