EXCLUSIVE: Nigerian security agencies put on alert over ISWAP’s suicide bombing threat

Indications have emerged that Nigeria’s security and intelligence agencies are bracing up for possible suicide bombings from the Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP).

The development comes about 12 days after suicide bombings were recorded in Gwoza in Borno State, north-east Nigeria.

The 29 June suicide attacks, in which at least 20 persons died, were reportedly coordinated by a Boko Haram faction. Boko Haram is a rival group from which ISWAP broke away.

The public has yet to be officially alerted to the ISWAP threat, but PREMIUM TIMES confirmed that the government has instructed all security agencies to prepare against it.

This newspaper gathered that the security agencies believe that ISWAP is planning to attack prisons and oil and gas facilities.

On Wednesday, PREMIUM TIMES obtained an intelligence memo dated 10 July alerting the personnel of one of the security agencies about possible attacks by ISWAP and calling for more vigilance.

Full details of the agency and the memo itself are not provided in this report to protect the source.

However, according to the memo, the terrorist organisation is planning to attack prisons, including the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja, Kaduna Central Prison, Port Harcourt Maximum Prison, and Kirikiri Correctional Center in Lagos, among others.

Also mentioned in the memo as a potential target is the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano (AKK) pipeline, a 614km-long pipeline being developed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to transport natural gas from the south to the north-central geopolitical zone of Nigeria.

However, all security agencies have been asked to extend their vigilance beyond the potential targets identified in the memo.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that within three hours on 29 June, female suicide bombers detonated improvised explosive devices (IEDs) at various locations in Mararaban Gwoza and Pulka. A factional Boko Haram leader, Ali Ngulde, controls the territories from his Mandara Mountain camp.

The newspaper also reported that the use of female suicide bombers was a tactic of Boko Haram and was last used about three years ago before the recent Gwoza incidents.

ISWAP recently escalated its offensive against Nigerian troops fighting insurgency in Northern Nigeria.

Preparations

Two security agencies contacted by PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday did not explicitly confirm the ISWAP threat but confirmed they were on alert to ward off dangers.

The spokesperson for the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), whose facilities are believed to be part of the primary targets of the potential attacks, Umar Abubakar, said his organisation would not take the threat for granted, even though he has yet to receive any information about it.

“Don’t forget that we have synergy with the Nigeria Police, the military and other security agencies. I’m not sure I have such information on my table, but that is not to say that we would take it for granted,” Mr Abubakar said in a telephone interview with this newspaper.

He added, “We will make sure that we work around the information and see other protective measures that we can put in place across all our custodial centres.

“I cannot speak on the intelligence information you mentioned now, but I’m sure that such a plan would not work because of the security put in place in our custodial centres.”

Similarly, the spokesperson for the maritime arm of the Nigerian Armed Forces, Adams Alliu, a commodore, without specifically addressing the fresh ISWAP threat, said the Nigerian Navy is keeping 24-hour surveillance on the maritime space, including the creeks.

“Concerning the pipelines, the pipeline security and the maritime domain awareness security is 24-hour surveillance, and there’s no space in the 24 hours that is a gap that can be exploited. Especially since President Tinubu took over, it has been 24 hours of 100 per cent surveillance,” Mr Alliu said.

But when contacted over the development, the Director of Defence Media Operations, at Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters, Edward Buba, a major-general, said he had not received any information concerning such a threat.

Also, the spokesperson for the Nigeria Police Force, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, an assistant commissioner of police, has yet to respond to PREMIUM TIMES’ phone calls and a text message as of the time of filing this report on Wednesday.

ISWAP victory claims

In recent times, the terrorist group has also laid claim to some major attacks on national infrastructures and facilities.

READ ALSO: Boko Haram resumes suicide bombing in north-east Nigeria, kills 21

In 2022, the group claimed responsibility for the attack on Kuje prison, where inmates were freed in Abuja.

The terrorists claimed responsibility in a video released following the attack.

In the video clip, the group showed how some of its members entered the Kuje prison. The 38-second-long video clip also showed that the terrorists shot indiscriminately before gaining access to the prison.

The Nigerian Correctional Service said four inmates died, and 879 escaped during the attack. Majority of the escapees have yet to be recaptured.

On 28 March 2022, some terrorists suspected to be ISWAP/Boko Haram terrorists also attacked the Abuja-Kaduna bound train and abducted some passengers.

The terrorists had planted explosive devices along the rail track. The device exploded when the train reached the point, causing the train to derail. Eight passengers died instantly in the attack.

Nigerian Armed Forces’ recent success against ISWAP

Meanwhile, last week, the troops of the Nigerian Army, deployed for a special clearance operation in Sambisa Forest, eliminated 11 ISWAP terrorists, according to a Nigerian Army statement.

The army said the feat was achieved when troops attacked the terrorists’ enclave in Jongo Village within the notorious Sambisa Forest.

It noted that the troops targeted the enclave and engaged the terrorists in a fierce gun battle, killing some while others fled in disarray. The army also said it recovered some weapons from the terrorists.