Hezbollah Members Arrested In Kano, Illegal Armoury Discovered
Startling revelations were made in northern city of Kano on how Lebanese-based terror group, the Hezbollah have been smuggling arms into Nigeria for the purpose of fighting Isreali and Western establishments in the country.
A special squad from the Joint Task Force in Kano raided a bungalow located on Gaya Road, Bompai area of the commercial city where they discovered a bunker stuffed with dangerous arms and ammunition and concealed inside coolers.
Seventeen AK 47 Riffles, 11,433 bullets, 76 military grenades, 1 Rocket Propeller Grenade (RPG2), 21 RPG bombs, nine pistols, 103 PMT Slap were part of the dangerous weapons recovered from the illegal armoury.
Pointblanknews.com recalls that the Boko Haram group who launched coordinated attacks in Kano on January 20, 2012 had strong hold on the Bompai axis from where they launched the worst of their bloody campaign against security agencies, hapless citizens and government establishments.
Addressing newsmen on the issue, Commander of 3 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Kano, Brigadier-General Ilyasu Abbah named the suspects as, Abdallah Hassan Fadallah, Mustapher Fawaz and Abdullahi Tigani, adding that they have all been moved to Abuja for further investigations.
He recalled that one of the suspects, Tahini was once arrested at the Mallam Aminu Kano International airport over undeclared 60000 US Dollars on his way to Lebanon adding that he is an Abuja based businessman.
Abbah further disclosed that the assorted dangerous weapons intercepted from the home of the suspects had link with the Lebanese based Hezbollah fighters.
According to him, the suspects were quoted as saying during preliminary investigations that the weapons were meant to fight Israeli and Western interests in the country.
'Even if they were meant to fight Israeli and Western interest in the country as they claimed, are Nigerians not working in those organizations,' Abbah wondered, adding that building of a bunker inside a building to conceal weapons of mass destruction confirms the suspects ulterior motive.
Also speaking on the incident, Bassey Etang, Director of State Security Service in Kano said: 'We cannot say how long the weapons have been in the bunker, the rust you is as a result of the conditions they have been exposed to, but are still serviceable, again we cannot link them with Boko Haram, until the conclusion of investigation, but we suspect such group like Hezbollah can have link with Boko Haram.'
A statement from the headquarters of 3 Brigade, Nigeria Army, signed by its spokesman, Captain Ikedichi Iweha noted that, 'on 28 May 13 a combined team of the JTF involving the NA of the 3 Brigade here in Kano and the Kano state DSS conducted a thorough search of this house located at No 3 Gaya Road off Bompai Road Kano belonging to one Abdul Hassan Taher Fadlalla a Lebanese national who is currently out of the country.
After painstaking search of the whole premises, the search team uncovered an underground bunker in the the master bed room where a large quantity of assorted weapons of different types and caliber were recovered.
'The bunker was specially constructed for this purpose. It is worth mentioning to say that the weapons include anti tank weapons, rocket propelled guns, anti tank/anti personnel mines among other dangerous weapons. All the weapons and ammunition recovered were properly concealed with several layers of concrete and placed in coolers, drums and bags neatly wrapped.
'These discoveries were not accidental but the outcome of an ongoing robust counter terrorism investigation by the Department of the State Services Abuja in the past several months. The investigation also confirms the existence of a Hizbullah Foreign Terrorist Cell in Nigeria. Consequently, the DSS on 16 May 2013 arrested one Mustapha Fawaz the co-owner of the popular Amigo Supermarket as well as the wonderland Amusement Park all in Abuja.
'Thus, his arrest and confession unveiled other members of the foreign terrorists network which led to the interception of one member of the syndicate named Abdullah Tahini a Lebanese national at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport with undeclared amount of sixty thousand United States Dollars on him enroute Beirut. Thereafter on 26 May 2013 one Talal Roda also a Lebanese with Nigerian Passport was arrested in this same house.
'All those arrested have confessed to have undergone Hizbullah Terrorist Training and further implicated one Fauzi Fawad, also a co-owner of Amigo Supermarket and wonderland Amusement Park. However, the fellow is now at large. The arms and ammunition were targeted at facilities of Israel and Western interest in Nigeria; however, the security agencies are making frantic efforts to unveil the true situation. At the end of investigation, all those involved will be prosecuted.'