Boko Haram: Police arrest 180 Chadian mercenaries By Yusuf Alli

The Police have arrested about 200 people, mostly Cha-dian “mercenaries”, after last week’s Boko Haram attacks in Kano, a police source told AFP yesterday. But there seems to be no respite for residents, with an explosion at a Sabon Gari bus terminal yesterday. Five people were injured and the area was evacuated, the army and the police said. The deadliest violence to hit Kano came last Friday, when co-ordinated gun and bomb attacks by Boko Haram killed at least 185. “Many arrests have been made since the attacks,” the police source said on condition of anonymity, referring to the Friday assaults. “We have arrested around 200 attackers and 80 per cent of them are Chadians. They came in as mercenaries.” Of the suspects, 180 are believed to be Chadians. There were indications they had been paid to participate in the attacks attributed to Boko Haram, the source added. A United Nations (UN) report on regional security released on Wednesday said there was evidence suggesting the Nigerian group had Chadian members who had received training from Al-Qaeda’s North Africa affiliate. But a Nigeria specialist with the International Crisis Group (ICG) said it was unlikely the sect had such a high number of foreigners in its ranks. “I was shocked to hear that myself. Personally, I don’t believe it,” said Kunle Amuwo of the ICG. Five people sustained various degrees of injuries from the explosion at the new Road Park in Sabongari, predominantly occupied by southerners. The blast occurred around 1:pm, as frightened residents were making frantic efforts to get out of the beleaguered city. An eyewitness, a retired naval officer, told our reporter that the explosives were packaged in three bags which the transporters at the park believed was a luggage belonging to a passenger. The eyewitness said when nobody claimed ownership of the luggage, the attention of people around was called to the content of the bag, was later discovered to be explosives. One of the bombs exploded, injuring five people and scaring away hundreds of passengers, most of whom were fleeing Kano because of security concern. Two luxury buses, one belonging to “God Bless Ezenwata” with Lagos registration number xx 449 JJJ and the other owned by Gobison Motors” with Anambra registration number SJ 600 NSA were affected by the blast. Their windscreens were shattered. A detachment of the Kano State anti-bomb squad was deployed to detonate the remaining bombs. Passengers’ luggage were searched before boarding after the incident. Some of the victims were rushed to a nearby hospital. One of them Lawrence Nwanyi, is on admission after falling unconscious as a result of the blast. The incident has caused an uneasy calm in the city that is already experiencing a heavy security presence. All the buses in the park were evacuated, shops were closed and security men cordoned off the scene of the blast.