A suspected Boko Haram bomber was yesterday arrested while trying to detonate what was perceived as an explosive at the Centrex Unit of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) in the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
Sources said the suspect was able to gain access into the NAMA facility because he was physically challenged. He was, however, apprehended by security officials of the airspace agency who had witnessed his unusual movement as he was trying to press an object which they suspected could be an explosive. The airport police command was promptly alerted and the suspect handed over to the police, who took him to Beesam Police Station, Airport Command, where he was interrogated.
Efforts to get a confirmation from the Beesam Police Station did not yield result as the policemen on duty refused to talk to journalists who had besieged the office. The commissioner of police, Airport Command, Mr Waheed Salahu, said that it would be premature to talk with the media on the issue.
A source close to the command confirmed the story. The source who could not talk to the media on the issue said that the suspect was arrested around noon yesterday and had been taken to the Beesam Police Station.
The source could not confirm if the suspect was a member of the Islamic sect, Boko Haram, but confirmed that explosive devices were on the suspect at the time of his arrest.
In a statement made available to journalists later in the day, NAMA said it was untrue that a suspected suicide bomber was arrested at one of the agency’s facilities at the airport.
Supo Atobatela, spokesman for NAMA, said: “The basic truth, however, is that the said suspect was on the ground making phone calls along the Airport Road close to CENTREX, an annex office of NAMA, when the agency’s security personnel accosted him.
“His incoherent explanation exposed him to the security personnel who later found on him some devices suspected to be explosives. He was subsequently handed over to the Airport Police Command for further investigation.”
He said the managing director of NAMA, Engineer Ibrahim Abdulsalam, in a reaction commended the security operatives for their vigilance and prompt arrest of the suspect.
Boko Haram suspect at NAMA.