Sallah: Security On Red Alert Throughout Northern Nigeria

By SaharaReporters, New York

Ahead of the Islamic Eid El Kabir (Sallah) celebration across the Muslim world, Nigeria’s security agencies are on red alert to contain possible Boko Haram attacks.
A top military officer in charge of security operations in one of the Northern States confirmed this to SaharaReporters today over the telephone, saying that some intelligence was obtained in that regard.
In Nigeria, Thursday and Friday are public holidays in commemoration of the Islamic festival.
The source said that the Nigerian military and its sister agencies are in receipt of intelligence reports that suggested that the militant sect is planning attacks across the Northern States in such places as Kaduna, Kano, Bauchi, Maiduguri, Damaturu and Potiskum, all of them places in which they have been engaged in serious gun duels recently with the Joint Task Force.
The source cited confessions provided by recently arrested Boko Haram militants and renewed military activities in Maiduguri, Potiskum, Damaturu, Mubi, Kaduna and Bauchi as proof that military high command is taking drastic action, including preparation for the Eid.
He also noted that all military personnel have been instructed to embark on thorough stop and search exercise without any laxity in all areas of contention with the sect.
Despite that, all officers and men have been instructed to ensure the protection of the fundamental human rights of citizens, as they usually get manhandled by overzealous security personnel in such situations.
SaharaReporters also gathered from another source that some anti-terror military personnel have recently completed further training in anti-terrorism and insurgency at Nigeria Army formations in Niger State and Kaduna States.  They have consequently been deployed to Bauchi, Kaduna, Maiduguri, Damaturu and Potiskum to beef up security in those troubled areas.