Police Foil Plan to Bomb Third Mainland Bridge, Arrest Mastermind

 

The popular Third Mainland Bridge located in Lagos, as we know it, would have been blown to

smithereens on Boxing Day but for the quick action of the police that not only foiled the attempt to blow up the bridge, but also arrested one of the masterminds behind the planned attack.

The feat was achieved by the Inspector General of Police’s Special Intelligence Response Team (IRT), which acting on a credible intelligence report, trailed and arrested one of the primary suspects and recovered not just rifles but explosives and the detonators.

The suspect was identified as 43-year-old Abiodun Amos, a member of a notorious militant group operating from the creeks of Ikorodu and Arepo areas of Lagos and Ogun States.
Amos, who is a top commander of the group, has since confessed to how he intended to blow up the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos on Boxing Day.

Nicknamed Senti, the Ijaw native of Arugbo in Ese-Odo Local Government of Ondo State, was not just a commander but also the militant group’s chief explosives maker.
Unknown to him, however, the IRT had been building intelligence on him and were assiduously working on tracking and pining him down.

Their diligence eventually paid off on the day he was to execute his nefarious plan, as he was trailed to a riverbank at the Majidu area of Ikorodu, Lagos.

After he was arrested, two AK47 rifles hidden in a jute bag (known in local parlance as Ghana-Must-Go bag) were found in his possession, after which he led the IRT operatives to a vehicle parked discreetly within Ikorodu, where a large cache of dynamites and detonators were stacked in the boot of the car.

THISDAY gathered that his arrest was due to an intelligence ‎report provided by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) in Abuja.

The report, which was passed on to the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, indicated that the group was in the final stage of carrying out the said attack.

The IG was said to have directed his operatives at the IRT led by Abba Kyari, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, to commence a full-scale investigation.
The investigation unearthed the fact that the group was actually planning to blow up the bridge at the end of the month.

Further investigations revealed that the group had acquired large quantities of dynamites and several other explosives which would be used for the attack.
Police sources said they took the intelligence report seriously due to the threats made by the group in October 2016.

The militant group, which is notorious for pipeline vandalism, kidnapping and bank robberies, had demanded for amnesty, threatening to disrupt economic activities within Lagos and Ogun States if the federal government did not dialogue with them and grant them pipeline protection contracts.

In one of their threats, the leader of the militant group, known as General Ossy Ibori, had boasted that they were behind most of the high profile bank robberies and kidnappings, including that of three schoolgirls of Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary School in Ikorodu, four landlords at Isheri North Area of Lagos, a traditional ruler, the Oniba of Ibaland, Oba Goriola Oseni, and several others, within Lagos and Ogun State‎s.

In the interview, he had boasted that his group had over 21 generals commanding 7,800 battle-ready boys, adding that the group was rich enough to fight the federal government, as it had acquired thousands of military grade arms and ammunition.

He boasted that he would deploy them in disrupting economic activities within Lagos and Ogun States should the federal government fail to dialogue with the group and grant its wishes.

Armed with that threat, the IRT gathered its intelligence and trailed some members of the group, arresting several within Ikorodu. It is believed that the arrested suspects gave the police information to help them trail and arrest Amos on his way out of the creeks.

In his confessional statement, the 43-year-old suspect confessed that his militant group once engaged in pipeline vandalism but had resorted to kidnapping when it became difficult for them to vandalise and sell stolen petroleum products.

He said: “We went into bank robberies and kidnapping because we wanted to get government’s attention and all we wanted was for them to grant us amnesty and also offer us pipeline protection contracts.
“We have made several appeals and the government is not listening to us. General Ossy said if we don’t blow up the Third Mainland Bridge government would not listen to us.

“We had concluded plans and we decided to carry out the attack. I am the group’s explosives expert and before I was arrested we were going into the creeks to conclude plans on how to carry out the attack.”
According to a police report made available to THISDAY, the arrest of the Niger Delta militant-cum-kidnapper was facilitated after he planned to bomb the Third Mainland Bridge.

The report stated: “The suspect was planning to bomb the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos and we intercepted him and recovered two AK 47 rifles, two cartons of explosives and detonators.

“This was after several weeks of meticulous follow up on credible technical intelligence generated by TIU and NSA on the activities of some notorious militants in Lagos/Ogun areas gathering explosives to blow up the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos.

“IRT operatives eventually arrested one of the key members of the group who specialises in explosives – Abiodun Amos, aka SENTI – 43 years old, and a native of Ese Odo LGA, Ondo State.
“Subject was arrested at the bank of Majidun River in Ikorodu area of Lagos with two AK47 rifles hidden in a bag he brought from their hideout in the creeks.

“Subject has also mentioned other gang members. Analysis of the GSM number of the arrested suspect revealed his closed associates in Ikorodu area of Lagos.

“IRT teams were deployed to Ikorodu on December 26 to apprehend the suspect, but on sighting IRT operatives the suspect jumped out of his car and escaped into the bush.

“On searching the Toyota Camry car, two cartons of Gelatine dynamite explosives and hundreds of detonators were recovered in the boot of the car.
“Serious efforts are ongoing to arrest the remaining gang members by the IRT operatives.”