Nigeria at 52: Army foils Independence Day attacks

The Nigerian Army on Sunday said it foiled a plan by the Boko Haram sect to carry out massive
suicide bomb attacks on Zaria, Kaduna and Suleja.
The army spoke in reaction to the killing of two suspected Boko Haram operatives in Gaskiya
Layout of Tukur-Tukur, Zaria on Sunday morning by a joint team of State Security Service agents
and soldiers.
The National Emergency Management Agency said two suspected extremists were killed while
the injured were rushed to hospital.
Several people, including a woman, were arrested during the operation and the troops seized and
destroyed a building which was heavily loaded with explosives, online medium, Saharareporters
reports.
A statement signed by the Army Public Relations Officer, Cap. Ibrahim Abdullahi, said the
gunfight took place in the early hours of Sunday when the militants engaged the joint team in a
fierce gun battle in Gaskiya Layout.
Abdullahi said the engagement followed a tip-off that Boko Haram was planning a major suicide
mission in Zaria, Kaduna and Suleija to coincide with Monday’s Independence Day celebrations.
A joint operation was then launched on a residential building in Gaskiya Layout to flush out the
extremists.
The statement did not say whether any innocent people were killed, or whether the militants
were the only residents of the building.
Abdullahi said the IEDs were intended for the various operations the sect was to carry out, and to
inflict maximum casualty on army troops.
“As a result, a controlled detonation was carried out by Army Engineers so as to save other law
abiding residents of the area and to stop further planning and execution of the nefarious,
destructive, criminal and deadly activities of the sect,” the statement said.
Investigations will determine the extent of the involvement of the individuals who were arrested
during the operation.