The Department of State Services (DSS) said on Tuesday it arrested a suspected recruiter for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria on January 17 in Kano.
This is contained in a statement by an official of the service, Mr Tony Opuiyo, on Tuesday in Abuja.
The statement said the arrest was sequel to available intelligence which indicated the suspect’s terrorist antecedents and covert drive to indoctrinate and recruit susceptible youths in the country.
It said prior to the arrest, the suspect had completed arrangements to embark on a journey to join an ISIS terrorist training camp in Libya, with other Nigerians whom he recruited.
It said that the recruits include two male and one female.
The statement said the suspect listed one Aminu and Ibrahim JIHADI, a Nigeriene, as other ISIS agents operating in Nigeria and the West African sub-region.
It said that the service had also arrested six suspects on January 17 in Daura, Katsina State, after intercepting another extremist cell affiliated to ISIS.
“This group was discovered in an active stage, as its members were already coordinating themselves for attacks in Katsina and Kano States,“he said.
The statement said in the same vein, on January 22 other six suspects were arrested in Kano while migrating to Libya, with their immediate families including infants, in a bid to join ISIS.
It said that between December 2015 and February, 2016, the Service bust the network of syndicated kidnap gangs in different regions in the country.
These include, Kebbi, Zamfara, Niger, Nasarawa, FCT, Oyo and Osun.
The statement said that the service had also foiled a plan by a group of fraudsters to steal N4.5 billion from the Treasury Single Account (TSA) by hacking the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS).
The statement said that the successes were recorded as a result of proactive and credible intelligence offered by members of the public, sister security agencies and other stakeholders.
“ This Service wishes to state that it will continue to deploy every means necessary within its statutory mandate, and ambit of the law to ensure the security and safety of all law-abiding residents and citizens wherever they reside,“he said.
It urged all and sundry to be extra-vigilant, as well as report any suspicious persons and groups or activities to relevant security agencies for the sustenance of relative peace in the country.
