NIGERIA: Nigerian authorities say they have arrested three Lebanese suspected of being Hezbollah members

Record ID: 236097

  • Title: NIGERIA: Nigerian authorities say they have arrested three Lebanese suspected of being Hezbollah members
  • Date: 31st May 2013
  • Summary: KANO, NIGERIA (MAY 30, 2013) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MEMBERS OF NIGERIA'S JOINT TASK FORCE SEARCHING THE HOUSE OF ONE OF THE SUSPECTS DIRECTOR OF THE STATE SECURITY SERVICE IN KANO STATE, BASSAY ETANG, SPEAKING TO JOURNALISTS HOLE IN THE GROUND IN HOUSE ETANG SPEAKING TO JOURNALISTS, POINTING AT HOLE IN THE GROUND, AND SAYING: "THE DIMENSION OF THIS HOLE IS AS BIG AS THIS ROOM, AND IT IS A BUNKER, IT IS HERE WHERE ALL THOSE THINGS CAN BE FOUND OUTSIDE." VARIOUS OF SECURITY OPERATIVES SHOWING COOLER BOXES TO JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR OF THE STATE SECURITY SERVICE IN KANO STATE, BASSAY ETANG, SAYING: "This is the hand work of Hezbollah, what has just been discovered is a cell of Hezbollah, and what you have seen here is a Hezbollah armoury and what we are saying is that, even if it is targeted at Israeli and Western interests, we are also aware that where all those people are, Nigerians are also there, so it is a question for Nigeria too because assuming you do anything against Israeli or foreign interests, Western interest, you are also going to bring some diplomatic problems for Nigeria, and you can also be sure that, if a group like this is existing, then it may even lend support to some of the local terrorists we have on ground so it's a very serious matter." VARIOUS OF WEAPONRY DISPLAYED ON GROUND
  • Embargoed: 15th June 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nigeria
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Topics: Crime,Conflict,Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVA6HR8HBLRCWVHFFPQ77HJR60OK
  • Story Text: Nigerian authorities said on Thursday (May 30) they had arrested three Lebanese in northern Nigeria on suspicion of being members of Hezbollah and that a raid on one of their residences had revealed a stash of heavy weapons.
    The three suspects were arrested between May 16 and May 28 in the north's biggest city Kano, the city's military spokesman Captain Ikedichi Iweha said in a statement.
    All had admitted to being members of Hezbollah under questioning.
    A raid on the residence of one of the Lebanese had uncovered 11 60 mm anti-tank weapons, four anti-tank landmines, two rounds of ammunition for a 122 mm artillery gun, 21 rocket-propelled grenades, seventeen AK-47s with more than 11,000 bullets and some dynamite, he said.
    Bassay Etang, director of the state security service in Kano State, said that the weapons found belonged to Hezbollah members.
    "This is the hand work of Hezbollah, what has just been discovered is a cell of Hezbollah, and what you have seen here is a Hezbollah armoury and what we are saying is that, even if it is targeted at Israeli and Western interests, we are also aware that where all those people are, Nigerians are also there, so it is a question for Nigeria too because assuming you do anything against Israeli or foreign interests, Western interest, you are also going to bring some diplomatic problems for Nigeria, and you can also be sure that, if a group like this is existing, then it may even lend support to some of the local terrorists we have on ground so it's a very serious matter," Etang said.
    Separately, five fighters from Chad and two from Niger were arrested among insurgents fleeing a two-week-old offensive against Islamist sect Boko Haram in the northeast, as they tried to cross the border into Chad, Nigeria's defence spokesman Brigadier General Chris Olukolade said in a statement.
    Authorities believe there has been a growing involvement of al-Qaeda-linked foreign jihadists in Nigeria's insurgency.
    The secret service detained the first suspect, Mustapha Fawaz, on May 16 at his supermarket in Kano. His interrogation led to other suspects, including Abdullah Tahini, who was later arrested at Kano airport with $60,000 in undeclared cash.
    The third, Talal Roda, a Nigerian and Lebanese citizen, was arrested on Sunday (May 26) at the house where the weapons were found two days later.
    An alliance between Salafist Sunni Muslim Boko Haram and Shi'ite Hezbollah would be unusual, and there has never previously been evidence of such a link.
    Though most Nigerian Muslims are Sunni, there are several thousand Shi'ite Nigerians, a legacy of Muslim radical Ibrahim Zakzaky's preachings since the 1980s. Zakzaky still leads Nigeria's main Shi'ite movement and has campaigned for an Islamic government and stricter adherence to sharia law.
    A Nigerian court sentenced an alleged member of Iran's Revolutionary Guard and a Nigerian accomplice to five years in prison this month over an illegal shipment of mortars and rockets seized in the main port of Lagos in 2010.
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