A Nigerian and an Algerian national have been detained by German authorities on suspicion of planning to carry out a terrorist attack in the city of Goettingen, in Germany, officials said on Thursday.
The Nigerian, a 23-year-old man believed to be linked with Islamic State terrorists group (ISIL), and his Algerian counterpart, 27, were whisked away in an overnight raid carried out by a 450-strong police squad.
This is coming barely days after Germany announced plans to deport over 1200 Nigerian asylum seekers from its shores as they grapple with growing threat of terror attacks.
A statement released by the Goettingen police and the Interior Ministry of the state of Lower Saxony did not confirm whether any evidence was confiscated during the raids, News Agency of Nigeria writes.
“There would be no further statements before Friday,” the police was quoted to have said.
But according to Police chief Uwe Luehrig, the evidence gathered in the past few days about the men’s terrorist plot had forced the authorities into action.
The men have been classified by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency as “a danger to others,’’ people who are prepared to commit acts of terrorism at any time.
Germany remains a strategic partner with Nigeria in the war against terrorism.
