A hideout used by members of the Boko Haram sect was on Saturday destroyed by a combined team of the military and other security agencies in the Rikkos area of Jos.
The three-bedroom flat, with boys’ quarter, was fortified with high steel gate and fence in the ghetto area of Jos before it was demolished by a bulldozer on Saturday.
The operation commenced on Wednesday night by a combined team of military Joint Task Force (JTF) from Maiduguri, military Special Task Force (STF) in Plateau, the police and the State Security Services (SSS).
A source told journalists that a man suspected to live in the house was trailed by the JTF men from Borno, who were later joined by the STF men in Plateau and other security agents.
“At about 3a.m. of May 17, a hideout of the Boko Haram terrorists was discovered in Rikkos area of Jos where six women and 11 children of Boko Haram members were kept. They have been rescued for investigations and rehabilitation,” Captain Mdahyelya Markus, spokesman of the STF, said.
According to Markus, items recovered from the three-bedroom bungalow include a laptop computer, external hard disk, eight cell phones, 23 SIM cards and 19 prepared improvised explosive detonators.
“Further search on the house at about 6.30am of May 19, revealed one AK-47 rifle, four magazines (fully loaded with 7.62mm special ammunition and 150 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition),” he said.
“Other things recovered are 347 rounds of 9mm ammunition, eight bags of Urea Nitrate fertiliser, two generators, four improvised explosive devices, 395 Sniper ammo and 60m of Cortex wire.
“Four containers of sodium oxide, one potassium chloride, three lead nitrate, two aluminium metal powder, one remote control, chromic cat-cut and white sulphurs were also discovered.”
Markus said that one improvised explosive device detonated during the search but nobody was injured.
The STF spokesperson warned members of the public not to allow their houses to be used by terrorists as such houses would be demolished.
He also advised landlords to thoroughly screen their tenants and report any suspected persons to the appropriate security agencies for prompt action.
One of the security personnel who preferred anonymity told journalists that one of the five rescued women is the wife of the suspected This Day bomber while others are wives of Boko Haram members that had died.
Some of the neighbours, who described the escaped suspect as very nice to all his neighbours, said the house belonged to a Yoruba man who had left Jos because of the crisis and had put a caretaker in charge.
