Strong indications have emerged that security operatives from the Department of State Services are intensifying their search for suspected members of the terrorists group, Islamic State of Syria and Iraq, who may have sneaked into the country.
There are concerns in security circles that ISIS members may have been heading to Nigeria to strengthen their bond with Boko Haram insurgents in the North-East.
The Boko Haram sect pledged allegiance to ISIS on May 7, 2015, which was accepted by the leaders of the terrorists group on May 13, 2015.
The recent moves by the security agency followed the arrest of a Lebanese ISIS terrorist, Ahmed Al Assir, with a Nigerian visa on a fake Palestinian passport at Beirut Airport, Lebanon, last week.
The terrorist was condemned to death in 2013, in relation to the death of 17 Lebanese soldiers and had been on the wanted list of the Lebanese security forces since then.
Following the revelation by the international media that the deadly terrorist was arrested with a Nigerian Visa on his fake Palestinian passport, President Muhammadu Buhari immediately ordered an investigation into how he obtained the visa.
It was gathered that officers of the DSS, who are probing the visa scandal, are not ruling out insiders’ collaboration in the saga.
An operative, who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity, said the security agencies are making efforts to track members of ISIS within the country.
The security operative dismissed the possibility that the arrested ISIS leader might have been heading to Nigeria to participate in a negotiation with Boko Haram.
The source said, “We don’t think he was coming to guide Boko Haram in the negotiation with the Federal Government. The man was coming to Nigeria to strengthen ISIS’ bond with Boko Haram.
“We think he was on a mission to mobilise them to carry out their activities. It was God that exposed them.
“Security operatives are probing how he got the visa; efforts are being made to find out the role played by insiders in the whole thing.
“Also, there is a high likelihood that there are others within the country, while others are coming in. The agencies are also going after those behind them.
“Investigation is ongoing, we are tracking them. The President has directed the DSS to get to the root of the matter.”
Commenting on the possibility of ISIS members in Nigeria, a security analyst, Mr. Ben Okezie, blamed easy infiltration of terrorists on the porosity of the country’s borders.
Okezie said, “Past governments did not do much to safeguard the borders. Other countries spend a lot of money to protect their borders, but this is not being done here and that is why illegal migrants are flooding our land and sea borders. In other countries, they take measures to check illegal migrants and economic refugees, but this is not being done here.
“At the borders, proper checks need to be done. The government should procure drones to patrol the borders to assist the security operatives; these drones are not that expensive and they could easily be bought from security firms in Israel, Indonesia, China and other countries,” Okezie advised.
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