Soldiers ground Abuja in search of bombs... Arrest six in Maiduguri

The Federal Capital Territory was on Monday ground to a halt by security checks and search for Boko Haram dissidents said to be plotting to bomb the NNPC Towers in the city centre. Most workers and

residents who live in satellite towns like Nyanya, Mararaba, Karu and so on spent over five hours in a serious traffic jam that stretched for miles due to the narrowing of the road by soldiers deployed to foil the plot to attack the city.

Residents complained that the soldiers, who placed barricades on the road, conducted body searches on passengers, frisking them for hidden weapons and explosives, a cumbersome and time-consuming method that worsened the traffic congestion on the road.

Meanwhile, the Military Task Force in Borno State aka Operation Restore Order said on Monday that it had arrested six suspects in connection with Sunday‘s bomb explosion at the Wulari Mammy Market in the state capital, Maiduguri.

The task force Commander, Maj.-Gen. Jack Nwogbo, who gave the information to the News Agency of Nigeria in Maiduguri, said, ”We went into action immediately after the incident and ransacked some flash points.

”We arrested about six suspects, and we have already begun screening them to determine whether they have cases to answer or not,” Nwogbo said.

He said eight people died in Sunday‘s blast which occurred at a drinking spot near a police barracks in Wulari area of the state capital.

”I counted eight dead bodies at the scene; about 15 other persons were also injured by the blast and have been rushed to the hospital for help,” he said.

NAN learnt that another explosion took place around Tashar Kano (motor park) in Maiduguri, about the same time but without any casualty as the military patrol team targeted was not there at the time of the blast.