The Lagos State Police Command has confirmed the arrest of Fredrick Nwajagu, the Eze Igbo of Ajao Estate in Lagos State.
The Command also disclosed that Nwajagu had been taken into the custody of the Department of State Services.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Lagos Command, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, who confirmed the arrest, said Nwajagu was arrested during a midnight raid.
He said, “The operation was carried out at midnight. The security operatives didn’t meet him in his palace. But we found out through intelligence gathering that he had lodged in a hotel in Ejigbo.
“He was traced to the location and arrested around 1 am.
“He is currently in the DSS custody where he is being investigated,” he said.
Meanwhile, the spokesperson for DSS, Peter Afunaya, is yet to issue a statement on the arrest of the Eze Igbo as of the time this report was filed.
Recall that Nwajagu was arrested by the Operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) over an alleged threat to invite members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to Lagos to secure properties of Igbo people in the state.
Vanguard gathered that the Igbo leader was picked in the early hours of Saturday in a joint operation by the DSS and the police.
Prior to his arrest, Nwajagu, in a 49-second video, which has now gone viral in Twitter, had allegedly threatened to invite IPOB members to Lagos to protect some Igbo people and their properties in the state.
The Igbo leader said he stood by his words, insisting that his people must have a stand in Lagos.
In the viral video, he said, “IPOB, we will invite them. They have no job. All of the IPOB will protect all of our shops. And we have to pay them. We have to mobilise for that. We have to do that. We must have our own security so that they will stop attacking us in the midnight, in the morning, in the afternoon.
“When they discover that we have our own security, before they will come, they will know that we have our own men there. I am not saying a single word to be hidden. I am not hiding my words, let my words go viral. Igbo must get their right and get stand in Lagos State.”
But, reacting to the video, Hundeyin, said the command would resist IPOB presence in the state.
