Immigration arrests 100 suspected mercenaries from Libya

Tribune

26 Vanguard 2011

Immigration arrests 100 suspected mercenaries from Libya

THE Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), in Kaduna, 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.

The suspects, according to an eyewitness, arrived in the state at about 2.00 p.m. on Friday 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.

“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 and liaise with other relevant security agencies, particularly, the State Security Service(SSS), Police and the Army before speaking with  the press.