Abuja: Two men who were about to bomb the police headquarters and Radio House which houses several government broadcast stations in the capital city here, were arrested on Tuesday, Nigerian police said.
They were said to have been apprehended moments before they were about to carry out suicide bombings.
The man arrested at the police headquarters was said to have laced his body with some explosives and hand grenades but was detected through some security gadgets.
"As soon as the terrorist, Abdulsalaam Salihu, alighted from the vehicle that brought him nearby the premises, the gadgets beeped and alerted the security operatives," police said.
He was arrested and was later taken to the intelligence unit for questioning.
A second person, John Akpafan Alakpo, was said to have headed for the National Press Center in the Radio House where the Aviation Minister, Stella Ogiemwonyi Oduah and Youths and Sports Minister , Bolaji Abdullahi were rendering accounts of their stewardship.
A statement from federal police command said officers recovered 37 rifle rounds and three grenades after Alakpo`s arrest, but did not offer any details about why the man carried the weapons onto the ministry`s grounds.
"He is in our custody, but we are not talking about it. We are investigating," Police spokesman, Ade Shinaba said while confirming his arrest.
Nigeria has been under increasing attack by a radical Islamist sect known as Boko Haram, which has been blamed for more than 520 killings this year alone. The sect says it has an avowed mission of turning the country into an Islamic state with Sharia rule. But some analysts think there are political motives behind its attacks. Nigeria has a 180 million population evenly divided among Christians and Muslims with the former mostly found in the South while the latter has most members in the North.
PTI