Nigeria smashes Boko Haram spy ring at Abuja airport

ABUJA - Nigeria's domestic intelligence agency has warned travellers to be ready for an attack on the capital's airport after announcing it had smashed a spy network run by the radical Islamist group Boko Haram.

The Department of State Services (DSS) said in a statement late Friday that it had arrested a 14-year-old at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja who admitted he had been ordered to spy on security procedures.

He was to pass on "information in respect of travelers' movement including passenger screening, boarding procedures and other processes in the departure and arrival halls", DSS spokesman Tony Opuiyo said in the statement.

"The service is working closely with major aviation stakeholders, especially the Aviation Security Department, to forestall any possible attack and to ensure adequate security at the airports," he added.

Agents were still hunting the militant who directed the boy, following Monday's arrest, he said.

Boko Haram has waged a six-year violent campaign for an Islamic homeland during which at least 15,000 people have died and a further 1.5 million have been displaced.

The bloodshed has been largely confined to the northeast, but at least 21 people were said to have died when a bomb-laden car exploded at UN House, the headquarters for around 400 employees, on August 26, 2011.

The death toll in the attack, claimed by Boko Haram, rose to 24 in the months that followed, according to the United Nations, with 12 non-UN staff among the victims.

AFP