Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
ABRAKA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerian police announced Thursday they have foiled a plot to bomb a bustling bridge in Lagos, the country's commercial hub, recovering explosives and arresting a leader of oil militants.
A police statement said Abiodun Amos, described as an explosives expert, was hunted down to a riverbank hideout with two assault rifles on Nov. 2. One of the people he then mentioned to police escaped from a brush with officers on Monday, but two boxes of explosives and 125 detonators were found in the abandoned car, the statement said.
"The attack that would have been a major devastating and colossus damage to Lagos state and Nigeria was averted," the police statement said. Other "criminal militant elements planning a series of attacks on government infrastructures and facilities in Lagos state" remain at large, it said.
The 12-kilometer (7.5-mile) Third Mainland Bridge is usually crammed with traffic.
Militants previously had restricted their attacks to oil installations, slashing petroleum production in Africa's second-largest oil producer. Militants want a larger share of oil proceeds for local residents, as oil pollution has destroyed their agriculture and fishing.
___
This version corrects to say that the explosives and detonators were found in a separate incident.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
