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.
