Men of the Nigerian Army early Friday morning reportedly laid siege to the UN building in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, on the claim that illegal arms were being kept there.
The said UN building is known as the Red Roof and believed to be housing humanitarian workers providing relief materials to Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs.
As reported by PREMIUM TIMES, the soldiers were led by a colonel, who insisted the compound must be searched despite opposition from the UN officials.
The soldiers claimed the SSS had told them about the smuggled arms and doggedly stayed put at the entrance of the building until they were given access into the building around past seven ‘o clock in the morning of Friday.
“The soldiers came at about 2 a.m. and surrounded the entire area around the UN building. And at about 3 a.m., they demanded that they wanted to go into the building to search for arms.
“But the UN officials denied them access insisting that it was against their policy to allow armed soldiers invade their offices or buildings, especially at such odd hours of the night.”
“We all know there was nothing like that because the containers that they were referring to were building materials which the UN is using to upgrade or build some structures sitting on the acquired property. Presently the property serves as a place of accommodation for all the UN humanitarian workers in Maiduguri.
“When the soldiers wanted to force their way into the property, the security men had to lock the gate.”
The source the soldiers and the UN security personnel argued for hours until about 7 a.m.when they finally allowed them in.
“They searched the entire building and found nothing”, said the source.
“The soldiers later withdrew from the area at about 7.45 a.m,” a source said.
According to the report, it had been rumoured Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau was being kept inside the building. But the claim has not been verified.
