Nigerian army arrests politician
2013-03-06 23:27
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Kaduna - Nigerian soldiers arrested a politician in northern Kaduna state on Tuesday after finding weapons and explosives in a raid on his house in a region frequently targeted by Islamist militants.
President Goodluck Jonathan has said politicians have ties with Islamist groups like Boko Haram, a sect which has killed hundreds in a two-year-long insurgency.
Security experts believe politicians use groups like Boko Haram or criminal gangs to unsettle opponents.
"Following intelligence report a raid was carried out at the residence of Honourable Hussaini Dei Dei," Kaduna Army Spokesperson Tagbo Chucks Ude told reporters.
Ude said they found improvised explosive devices, detonator cord, remote control switches, chemicals, six AK 47 rifles, a light machine gun, a teargas launcher and piles of ammunition.
He said two men, two women and five children were arrested at the house, including Dei Dei, a politician who has run in local elections in the capital Abuja for an opposition party.
Nigeria has been plagued by guerilla style gun and bomb attacks across the mostly Muslim north for two years and recently Islamists have begun mass kidnappings of foreigners.
Boko Haram, a splintered group without a coherent command structure, is blamed for most attacks, which often target the military, police, politicians, banks and religious events.
Gunmen killed eight people on Monday night in an attack on a police station and a bank in northeastern Borno state, where Boko Haram first emerged in 2009.
Western governments fear Boko Haram, or factions of it, have linked up with other groups in the region, including al-Qaeda's North African franchise.
