Nyanya blast: Police send red alert to Interpol over suspect

THE Federal Government has said that the National Bureau of the Interpol based at the Nigerian Police Force Headquarters had issued an international red alert for the search and arrest of Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche,  who allegedly fled to Sudan and believed to have masterminded the April 14 bomb blast at Nyanya, Abuja.

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This was made known by the Director-General of the National Orientation Agency, Mike Omeri, at a joint national briefing on the update of the recent Chibok abduction and other security matters.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, further explained that “we, therefore, believe with this red alert, Interpol will galvanise everything possible worldwide to join in the search and possible arrest of the suspect.”

Omeri also urged religious leaders in the country to be mindful of their utterances concerning the recent Chibok abduction, to avoid turning terrorism to religious issue.

Nyanya traffic gridlock unsafe —Commuters
A cross-section of commuters who used the Keffi-Abuja road on Tuesday said the traffic gridlock caused by military checkpoints at the Nyanya axis of the road had become counter-productive.

They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, in separate interviews, that the situation had not only made them “targets” for terrorists, but has also failed to achieve result.

The commuters called on government to adopt modern security checking mechanism to ease traffic flow on the route, so as to curb the security challenge threatening the country.

NAN reports that the checkpoints, one at the Kugbo axis of the road and two others around the Nyanya bridge and market, were manned by military personnel.

The checkpoints emerged following the April 14 and  May 1 explosions, which led to the loss of many  lives, with many injured and property worth millions of naira destroyed.

The commuters, while lamenting the situation, attributed the traffic snarl to the checkpoints created along the route.

Mr Thomas Agu, a federal public servant, said he was always afraid when caught in the traffic jam.

“I am always in fear whenever I am trapped in this traffic. I just wonder and pray for something disastrous not to happen.

“This is because the traffic is now worse than it was before and there are so many vehicles and commuters;  if anything negative happens, there will be severe losses.

“I expect the government to be more proactive in its fight against terrorism and not  further endanger our lives,” he said.

A resident of Nyanya, Mr  Moses Aremu, said  the checkpoints were only monitoring vehicles going into the city centre.

He said this showed a neglect of the FCT suburbs and had made them more prone to attacks.

“The government should know that those with the explosives are already hidden in the city and they are not just bringing them in. TRIBUNE