The deadly Boko Haram sect is reportedly trying to expand its territory beyond Nigeria’s mainly Muslim north, to include the commercial capital Lagos.
Boko Haram operates in the North of Nigeria with its epicenter in Borno state.
Insurgency needs some level of local acceptance for it to succeed. In between the two areas of Lagos and Borno, there are different ethnic group, terrains and belief system that will make it almost impossible for the terrorists to take root.
It will take a collapse of Nigeria for the insurgency to come to Lagos.
While there may be isolated bomb target, but Lagos doesn’t worry about Boko Haram coming to it.
The concern of Lagosians is same as any country, for the people suffering in the north east, and the effect of the insurgency on the lives of compatriots.
However, the fear of attacking main Nigerian cities grow as Nigeria’s intelligence agency says 12 insurgents have been arrested in Lagos since July.
The BBC’s Will Ross in Lagos says the sect is still causing havoc in the north-east, with reports that more than 50 people were killed in an attack in Borno state on Friday, about 100km (62 miles) north of the state capital Maiduguri.
He said: “For many in Lagos it will be alarming to hear that a dozen Boko Haram members have been arrested here in recent weeks. I have often been told by Lagosians that the jihadist group would never dare attack this city, which seems more naive than reassuring, especially as there was an attempt to bomb a fuel depot last year.
‘The announcement from the secret police, known as the DSS, came just a day after another statement told us a teenager had been picked up inside Abuja airport where he was gathering intelligence for Boko Haram – another disturbing bit of news.”
“The DSS says the arrests have helped avert “devastating attacks” and that “notable commanders and frontline members” have been rounded up.
“We have no way of independently verifying the information in the statements but it is worth noting that all the security departments are under pressure to demonstrate that they are having an impact against Boko Haram, especially as President Muhammadu Buhari has made tackling the jihadist insurgency a priority and is still making senior appointments.”
It would be recalled that Boko Haram set off two explosions at a Lagos fuel depot on June 25, 2014, killing at least two people.
Most of Boko Haram’s attacks have taken place around its original base in the northeast. The group is blamed for thousands of deaths in the past five years.
Muhammadu Buhari has ordered a newly sworn-in set of military chiefs to end Boko Haram’s bloody six-year Islamist insurgency in three months deadline.
It should be also noted that the Oyo state police has recently foiled a bomb attack suspected to have been planted by Boko Haram militants in Ibadan.
Boko Haram operates in the North of Nigeria with its epicenter in Borno state.
Insurgency needs some level of local acceptance for it to succeed. In between the two areas of Lagos and Borno, there are different ethnic group, terrains and belief system that will make it almost impossible for the terrorists to take root.
It will take a collapse of Nigeria for the insurgency to come to Lagos.
While there may be isolated bomb target, but Lagos doesn’t worry about Boko Haram coming to it.
The concern of Lagosians is same as any country, for the people suffering in the north east, and the effect of the insurgency on the lives of compatriots.
However, the fear of attacking main Nigerian cities grow as Nigeria’s intelligence agency says 12 insurgents have been arrested in Lagos since July.
The BBC’s Will Ross in Lagos says the sect is still causing havoc in the north-east, with reports that more than 50 people were killed in an attack in Borno state on Friday, about 100km (62 miles) north of the state capital Maiduguri.
He said: “For many in Lagos it will be alarming to hear that a dozen Boko Haram members have been arrested here in recent weeks. I have often been told by Lagosians that the jihadist group would never dare attack this city, which seems more naive than reassuring, especially as there was an attempt to bomb a fuel depot last year.
‘The announcement from the secret police, known as the DSS, came just a day after another statement told us a teenager had been picked up inside Abuja airport where he was gathering intelligence for Boko Haram – another disturbing bit of news.”
“The DSS says the arrests have helped avert “devastating attacks” and that “notable commanders and frontline members” have been rounded up.
“We have no way of independently verifying the information in the statements but it is worth noting that all the security departments are under pressure to demonstrate that they are having an impact against Boko Haram, especially as President Muhammadu Buhari has made tackling the jihadist insurgency a priority and is still making senior appointments.”
It would be recalled that Boko Haram set off two explosions at a Lagos fuel depot on June 25, 2014, killing at least two people.
Most of Boko Haram’s attacks have taken place around its original base in the northeast. The group is blamed for thousands of deaths in the past five years.
Muhammadu Buhari has ordered a newly sworn-in set of military chiefs to end Boko Haram’s bloody six-year Islamist insurgency in three months deadline.
It should be also noted that the Oyo state police has recently foiled a bomb attack suspected to have been planted by Boko Haram militants in Ibadan.
