Nigerian Immigration arrests 100 suspected mercenaries from Libya

Nigerian Immigration arrests 100 suspected mercenaries from Libya

The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), in Kaduna State, Northern Nigeria has arrested over 100 suspected mercenaries from Libya.

They were suspected to have fled the country and arrived in Kaduna through the Niger-Nigeria border at the weekend, after the fall of the regime of Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi.

An Eyewitness said the suspects arrived in the state looking exhausted and unkempt.

According to the eyewitness, “as they filed through heavily armed  Immigration officials  at the Kaduna  zonal office of the Nigerian Immigration Service(NIS),they were made to sit  on  the ground on the  premises right in front of the office of the Zonal Comptroller  under the watch of  heavily armed officials while documentation procedure went  on.”

The suspects were said to be with some members of their families, including children, and were conveyed in two luxury buses.

How they were arrested

One of the suspects, who craved for anonymity, said that they had been wandering in the desert for the past three weeks before they were apprehended by the Immigration officials at the Niger-Nigeria border.

He said they left Libya and wandered in the desert before their arrest and subsequent conveyance to Kaduna from the Niger-Nigeria border.

However, newsmen were told that the command needed to obtain clearance from Abuja, Nigeria’s capital and liaise with other relevant security agencies, particularly, the State Security Service(SSS), Police and the Army before speaking with  the press.

NP/Adekusibe/Ekata