The Joint Task Force (JTF) comprising soldiers, mobile policemen and members of the state police command yesterday morning carried out a massive house-to-house search in three flashpoints in Kano in search of members of the Boko Haram.

The areas – Tishama, Tsamiyar Boka and Hotoro quarters all in Kano metropolis – were cordoned off during the search. Members of households were prevented from moving in or out of their homes shortly after the 5:30 morning prayers.

The Task Force members were said to have stormed the area in the late hours of Monday night and carried out a massive house-to-house search for over seven hours.

Thousands of the Muslim faithful, who went out to observe the morning prayers, were locked out in the mosques as the team entered into the various homes.

Tension was very high in the metropolis yesterday as residents of the affected areas were seen in groups, apparently discussing the incident.

Spokesman of the JTF in Kano Lieutenant Ikedechi Iweha told our correspondent in a telephone interview that the team had carried out the operation in search of suspected Boko Haram members, adding that the exercise would continue.

“Yes, we carried out operation this morning, and, as you are aware, these places are dangerous spots. We don’t want to be taken unawares; as I speak we are in full control,” he said.

Apparently acting on information that gunmen could be planning attacks ahead of the last Eid-el-fitr Sallah celebration, JTF had carried out pre-emptive raids on some hideouts of the sect members in Kano. In the process, JTF discovered a bomb-making factory.

The force had arrested at least three persons and also recovered 33 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) with over 739 rounds of ammunition.

A similar raid by the force in Maiduguri, Borno State, also led to the recovery of large arms and ammunition.

The Kano State director of SSS, Mr.Bassey Eteng, told journalists recently at the Third Brigade Headquarters, in Kano, that three suspects had been arrested in a raid.

Briefing newsmen at the JTF headquarters in Maiduguri recently, the field operations commander, Colonel Victor Ebheleme, recently thanked residents of the area for cooperating with the security agencies by providing information on the hideouts of the sect members.