The Nigerian Joint Task Force (JTF) uncovered a Lebanon-based Hezbollah armory and terror cell in Bompai, an area in northern Nigeria of Kano.

The force, which said it found large cache of arms and ammunition, also confirmed the arrest of three persons in connection with the armory and the cell.

A Lebanese national currently out of the country reportedly owns the premises where the armory and the cell were found in the ancient city.

A statement by the JTF spokesman, Captain Ikedichi Iweha, said the JTF operatives uncovered an underground bunker in the premises where large quantities of assorted weapons were hidden.

Iweha, who said the construction of the bunker was special, listed anti-tank weapons, rocket propelled guns and anti-tank/personnel mines as some of the dangerous weapons found in the premises. He added that the weapons and ammunition were concealed in coolers, drums and bags.

The latest recovery followed an ongoing robust counter-terrorism investigation by the SSS.


Confirming the existence of a Hezbollah cell in the country, Iweha noted that the SSS had arrested one Mustapha Fawaz, co-owner of Amigo Supermarket and the Wonderland Amusement Park, in Abuja, Nigeria's capital city.

The arrest of Fawaz, led to the arrest of another Lebanese terror suspect, Abdullah Tahini, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport with over $60,000 while another Lebanese with a Nigerian Passport, was arrested.

“All those arrested have confessed to have undergone Hezbollah Terrorist Training and further implicated one Fauzi Fawad, also a co-owner of Amigo Supermarket and Wonderland Amusement Park," said the Iweha.

The Director of Defense Information, Brig. Gen. Chris Olukolade, described the discovery of the arms and the arrest of the Lebanese importers as “a major breakthrough.” The action of the JTF operatives, he said demonstrated the commitment of security agencies to riding the country of illegal arms.

Meanwhile, the State Security Service (SSS) said the weapons were intended for use against “Israeli and Western interests”.

“This is the handwork of Hezbollah,” Bassey Ettang, director of the SSS said in Kano.

“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 the ground.”

Hezbollah is a Shia military and political movement based in Lebanon considered by the United States to be a terrorist organisation.

The sect was conceived by Muslim clerics and funded by Iran following the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, and was primarily formed to offer resistance to the Israeli occupation.

Its leaders were inspired by former Iranian leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, and its forces were trained and organised by a contingent of Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

Hezbollah’s 1985 manifesto listed its four main goals as “Israel’s final departure from Lebanon as a prelude to its final obliteration.”

Kudos to the Nigerian military for their intense effort at ensuring that the country is free of all forms of terrorism that has plagued the country in recent times.

http://www.infonubia.com/2013/05/nigeria-lebanon-based-hezbollah-armory.html

http://www.punchng.com/news/jtf-uncovers-lebanese-terror-cell-in-kano/