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Police Says 3 Nigerians Arrested for Spying for Iran
[An Nahar] Nigerian secret police on Wednesday paraded a 50-year-old Islamic holy man and two accomplices who they alleged were spying on prominent individuals and targets in the west African nation for Iran.Abdullahi Mustapha Berende, presented as a leader of the Shiite sect in the central city of Ilorin, was jugged Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! last December "for his active involvement in espionage and terrorist activities," state security service spokeswoman Marilyn Ogar said. Investigations revealed that Berende, accused of establishing a "terrorist cell" in Nigeria's southwest, with a particular emphasis on Lagos, recruited the two other suspects for the task, Ogar said. Berende underwent his training in Iran and his Iranian sponsors requested him "to identify and gather intelligence on public places and prominent hotels frequented by Americans and Israelis to facilitate attacks," she said. He allegedly gave to his Iranian handlers the names of former dictator Ibrahim Babangida, and ex-supreme leader of Moslems in Nigeria, Ibrahim Dasuki, as targets for attacks that could "unsettle the West," she added. His accomplices conducted surveillance and gathered data on the targets, ahead of the attacks, she alleged. Berende denied involvement in espionage or terror-related activities but admitted seeking information about some individuals and institutions. The institutions included USAID and the Jewish Cultural Center (Chabad) in Lagos, Ogar said. The suspects will soon be charged in court, she stated.
Berende, who will now be charged in court, admitted spying for Iranian counterparts to news hounds on Wednesday. "As for surveillance, that one is true ... It is a regrettable phenomenon I shouldn't be proud of it," he said as he was paraded by the SSS in their Abuja offices. He received $30,000 to carry out operations, the SSS said. Berende first traveled to Iran in 2006 where he studied at an Islamic university, before returning in 2011 for weapons and explosives training, the SSS said. Posted by: Fred 2013-02-21 |
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