Misbahu Bashir
17 December 2008
Six itinerant foreign Muslim preachers have been arrested by the police in Abuja on suspicion of their possible links with Al-Qaida, the Inspector General of Police, Mike Okiro said in Akure on Monday.
Speaking at the conference of senior police officers, Mr. Okiro said the suspects were arrested by detectives attached to the Federal Capital Police Command and handed over to the Force Headquarters where they were investigated.
The FCT Commissioner of Police John Haruna said the men were arrested on their arrival at a Mosque in Kuje Area Council based on information made available to the police.
"We deployed the detectives to the mosque to determine the truism of the situation who thereafter found the men and arrested them. They were found with forged passports in which four out of them were having Zambian passports while 2 were found with Indian passports. The men are well fed, rich and speak fluent Arabic language," he said.
He said the arrested men told police that they had preached in other mosques in the country before coming to the mosque at Kuje where they were apprehended.
"The men move from one mosque to another all over the world allegedly as preachers and were found to have visited so many countries including Pakistan and Afganistan, Al-Qaidas breeding ground, which make us to suspect their linkage with the Al-Qaida militant group," he said.
He said after the completion of police investigations, all relevant agencies were informed about the development including the presidency and that the men were handed over to the State Security Service for further investigations.
He said two Nigerians alleged to have hosted the preachers were being interrogated by the police.
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