American soldiers didn’t raid Abuja Estate – Resident

US soldiers were not part of the raid on Trademore Estate in Lugbe, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), a resident has said.

The resident, who confirmed that there was a raid at the estate, said only a foreigner was identified among the operatives who carried out the operation.

In a chat with Daily Trust earlier on Wednesday, the Spokesperson of the Police, Federal Capital Territory Command, Josephine Adeh, explained that the residents never informed the Divisional Police Officer in the area about the development.

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Adeh, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, also described as “fake news” the report claiming that DSS and US army uncovered boxes of explosives in the Estate.

“I’m touch with the DPO of the area, nothing like that happened. There is nothing on the DPO’s table showing any of the residents reported to the police about the purported operation,” she told our correspondent on phone.”

She, however, directed our correspondent to the DSS for clarifications.

However, several calls to the DSS spokesman, Peter Afunanya, on Wednesday were unanswered.

But he later on Thursday described the report as “fake news”.

In a widely circulated notice online, the residents of the estate had been cautioned on the need to be security conscious.

“It’s no longer news that there was a High Powered Sting Operation in Phase 3 this afternoon, culminating in a complete shutdown of our estate. A combination of the American Army and our DSS team were responsible.”

“We are unable to give full details of the reason(s) behind the operation, however, we can confirm that there was an allegation of terrorist activities. It is therefore desperately incumbent on every resident to remain vigilant, KNOW YOUR NEIGHBOURS and report any suspicious movement, person or activities to the Exco, Street Reps and/the Police.”

However, the resident said the incident sparked tension in the estate.

The man, who craved anonymity said two suspects were arrested some meters away from Living Faith Church on the estate.

Another resident said the security operatives were close to 30.

“Some of them were fully masked; all of them were plain cloth operatives; only one of them is a white guy, this could have given the impression that he is a US soldier.”

“When the security men came here, they didn’t easily identify their targets. They kept moving to different houses harassing people. They didn’t allow anyone get close to them through out the operation. It was later that they got hold of the suspects and they picked them up and left.”