Kano: JTF arrests foreigners, uncovers missiles, grenades

Operatives of Joint Task Force  on Tuesday night raided a warehouse at Gaya road of Bompai in Kano city where it found sophisticated military hardware.

The JTF  troops were said to have stormed the house following a tip off by a suspect who is under investigation.

Four foreign nationals, suspected to have hailed from Middle East, were arrested in the operation. Owner of the warehouse, who was identified as a Lebanese national, was among those arrested by the JTF, who put the  building  under surveillance.

Items said to have been recovered from the warehouse  included 40 air-to-surface missiles, 50 cluster bombs, 200 rocket-propel launchers, eight AK-47 rifles, 200 military hand grenades and some military hardware capable of destroying  Armoured Personnel Carriers.

The items  were said to have been carried away  to the headquarters of the 3rd Motorised Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Kano, alongside the foreign nationals.

Eyewitnesses estimated the number of  AK-47 riffles  evacuated from the scene at over 300.

Spokesman for the JTF Captain Ikedichi Iweha, promised to brief newsmen later on the issue, even as he declined comment on the incident, which occurred on Tuesday night.

'You would get the details tomorrow (Thursday) because of the Democracy Day celebration. We have resolved to talk to you after the break,' he said.

According to him, as a result of the Democracy Day celebration, security was fortified in the commercial city of Kano, with increased vehicular patrols by the military, JTF operatives and the police, as part of the measures to sustain relative peace in the city.