A joint force comprising the police, army and some paramilitary agencies raised to counter terrorism in Nigeria on Thursday showed a simulated scene of terrorists attack on a shopping mall and techniques on how to rescue victims and apprehend suspected terrorists.
It was held to mark the end of a week-long training with foreign partners.
At the end of the training in Abuja, the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) appraised the preparedness of the squad, expressing the commitment of the Nigerian government to ending terrorism in the north-east.
Asked if the simulation was in anticipation of any such attack on shopping malls, the Director of Security Information in the office of the NSA, General Tiebe Terry Waya, told reporters that the exercise was to assess the preparedness of the team on improved counter terrorism techniques.
There have been collaboration between Nigerian security agencies and those of the international community in an attempt to end the spate of bombings in some north-east states and some public places.
On June 25, at least 21 persons were killed and 17 others injured in an explosion that occurred at the Emab Plaza in Abuja.
The Wednesday’s explosion came barely two months after two explosions occurred at the Nyanya Motor Park in the outskirts of Nigeria’s capital city.
The bomb, concealed in an Abuja Taxi, went off at the popular shopping centre after it was dropped by a commercial motorcyclist popularly called Okada.
More of the bombings have happened in the north-east, with Borno State having a greater proportion, and the military has continued to reassure Nigerians of their commitment to ending the attacks.
A terrorist group, Boko Haram, has claimed responsibility for most of the attacks.
