The military Joint Task Force on Saturday announced that it killed five suspected Boko Haram members during a shootout in Kano in the early hours of yesterday.
Two soldiers were reportedly killed in the shootout.
According to the Associated Press, fighting began after security forces stormed two houses at about 3 a.m.
Spokesman for the JTF in Kano, Capt. Ikedichi Iweha, was quoted as saying the residents of the houses were plotting to carry out suicide attacks in Kano and the capital, Abuja, during an upcoming holiday season.
“Security has been intensified on all the major roads. There are massive (amounts of) security check points and surveillance,” Iweha said.
In a statement sent via email, Iweha said soldiers confiscated two AK-47 rifles and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, adding that it is “worrisome” that Boko Haram fighters are able to rent homes in the Kano suburbs “with ease.”
He said security forces will destroy properties occupied by suspected Boko Haram members and arrest the owners of the buildings and treat them as terrorists, even if they don’t live in the house.
“We will treat them as terrorists because they are harboring them,” Iweha told AP.
