The
security and intelligence community chiefs that talked about the
vigilance that prevented the planned attack of Lagos three weeks ago
failed to disclose to the public the magnitude of weapons the
masterminds of the terror act had deployed for the failed operation and
the main target.
At
the weekend from the authorities concerned that apart from the deadly
weapons uncovered, the arrested attackers’ main target was the strategic
Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos.
According
to revelations at the weekend, the attackers surreptitiously conveyed
the weapons to Lagos inside some of the numerous fuel tankers that ply
major roads to Nigeria’s former capital and indeed Nigeria’s commercial
nerve centre.
At
the weekend that indeed the Federal and Lagos State authorities were
quite startled that the masterminds of the planned terror act could pile
up weapons of mass destruction in Lagos, generally considered the
safest haven for investment at the moment in Nigeria.
It
was learnt that the Lagos State authorities, including the governor,
were shown the illegal arms that the security and intelligence
community’s interagency co-operation confiscated recently. “They were
shocked, really shocked when they were shown the level of organisational
capacity of the evil ones that planned to attack Lagos…”, a top source
disclosed last week.
In
a related development, security chiefs that briefed the National
Assembly top-shots last week about the reality of the planned attack of
Lagos reportedly told the federal legislators that indeed the attackers
had planned to attack Lagos to cripple the economy. Lagos is the
commercial nerve centre of Nigeria. Former Head of State, the late Gen.
Murtala Muhammed, had in 1976 recognised the strategic importance of
Lagos even while he was announcing the creation of Nigeria’s new capital
Abuja then.
His
words in a national broadcast to the nation on January 3, 1976: “…
Lagos will, in the foreseeable future, remain the nation’s commercial
capital and one of its nerve centres. But in terms of servicing the
present infrastructure alone, the committed amount of money and effort
required will be such that Lagos State will not be ready to cope.
“It
will even be unfair to expect the state to bear this heavy burden on
its own. It is therefore necessary for the Federal Government to
continue to sustain the substantial investment in the area. The port
facilities and other economic activities in the Lagos area have to be
expanded.
“There
is need in the circumstances for the Federal Government to maintain a
special defence and security arrangement in Lagos which will henceforth
be designated a special area. These arrangements will be carefully
worked out and written into the new constitution. Kaduna and Port
Harcourt are to be accorded similar status and designated as Special
Areas…”
The
security chiefs told the federal legislators and their presiding
officers that some of the attackers captured had hinted that the plan of
attack on Lagos was deliberate: to cripple the nerve centre of
Nigeria’s commerce and industry, a city that plays host to the
international air and sea ports so that Nigeria’s economy could
collapse.
It
was said that the insurgents had reasoned that since they had
successfully crippled business operations in the North, there should be
federal character spread of the destruction, as even the East and
South-South geo-political zones too have been negatively affected by the
insurgency and kidnapping. The federal legislators were said to have
been alarmed by a revelation about the sense of urgency of the
insurgents to hit Lagos “just to make Nigeria ungovernable for the
present administration”, as it was revealed.
It
was not clear at press time whether the Federal Government’s planned
amnesty programme for Boko Haram insurgents has been partly influenced
by the confirmed incursion to the unofficial commercial capital that
makes the money that Abuja spends. It is on record that as critics of
Washington DC often say, “New York makes the money that Washington
spends”, so it is with Lagos that consumes about 60 per cent of the fuel
that PPMC/PPPRC imports and the rest of the country shares the
remaining 40 per cent.
The
implications of targeting the very strategic Lagos Third Mainland
Bridge have been worrisome to authorities at all levels. This is part of
the reasons for the concerns in Abuja and Lagos.
The
Third Mainland Bridge is the longest of the three bridges connecting
Lagos Island to the mainland. The other two are the Eko and Carter
Bridges. It is the longest bridge in Africa. The Third Mainland Bridge
is a vital artery of the network of federal highways and commands high
patronage in Lagos Municipal Area, as it connects two of the Lagos
State’s commercial hubs, Victoria Island and Ikeja.
The
bridge, which has about 350,000 daily users, is also a vital link to
Lekki, Ajah and Epe communities. Midway through the bridge, there is a
link to Herbert Macaulay Way, Yaba. The bridge starts really from
Oworonsoki, which is linked to the Oshodi–Apapa Expressway and
Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, and ends at the Adeniji Adele Interchange on
Lagos Island. Built by Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, the bridge was
commissioned by former Military President Ibrahim Babangida in 1990 and
it measures about 11.8 km in length.
The
bridge posts huge economic relevance to the country as it saves
commuters who shuttle between two of the Lagos State commercial hubs,
Victoria Island and Ikeja, a lot of man-hours. It was said that the last
repair of the important bridge cost the nation N1.055 billion.
It
is feared that if Lagos Third Mainland Bridge is destroyed, Lagos and
indeed Nigeria, are destroyed. It was estimated that the cache of arms
seized from the insurgents about three weeks ago when it was reported
that Boko Haram entered Lagos was capable of wreaking havoc on the vital
bridge in the heart of Lagos.
Source: The Guardian
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