In Niger State, operatives of the Department of State Service, DSS, on Tuesday, stormed a house in the Kulobe community in the Gbeganu area of the state which led to the arrest of a suspected terrorist’s wife and the discovery of a large cache of AK-47 rifles and thousands of ammunitions.
The DSS were said to have raided the house following a tip-off from neighbours. However, the suspected terrorist was not arrested as he was said to have seen the operatives coming to his house through his Close Circuit Television camera, CCTV and engaged them in a gun battle.
It was gathered that between 1 am and 3 am Tuesday night when the incident occurred, the suspect, whose name has not been confirmed but is said to be an indigene of the central part of Kogi State, used a rocket launcher to bring down part of the fence of his house through which he disappeared into thin air, leaving behind his wife and children who were taken into custody by the security operatives.
A security source, who said he was in the house when the operatives of the Niger State Command of the DSS was taking inventory of the weapons, over 150 AK-47 riffles, explosives, a rocket launcher, an anti-aircraft rifle, and ammunition, numbering over 3,000 were evacuated from the suspect’s house and carted away to the office of the DSS.
Meanwhile, residents of the community and neighbours around the community, who confirmed that they heard the loud exchange of gunfire and the rocket launcher when it was fired, told newsmen that they had yet to recover from the shock of the incident.
“We thought bandits had invaded our community. The heavy sound of the guns between the terrorist and the security operatives were too heavy. Some of my electronics and furniture were destroyed. The loud noise sounded like there were many bandits,” he said.
This was as cracked windows, doors, roofing sheets, and walls of houses close to the suspect’s house could be seen around the house and indicating the impact of the shootout as well as empty canisters of bullets while parts of some buildings were brought down by the magnitude of the guns.
He was said to have bought the house two years ago and he had been living there without interacting with neighbours.
It was further learnt that following the indiscriminate shooting by the suspect, a night watchman living next door, Mubarak Abubakar, was hit by a stray bullet and is currently receiving treatment at the IBB Specialist Hospital in Minna.
Speaking on the matter, spokesman for the Niger State Police Command, Abiodun Wasiu said the Police would investigate more on the matter.