An internal memo by the Nigerian Customs Service has raised alarm over a planned series of coordinated terrorist attacks targeting key facilities in and around Abuja, including the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport and Kuje Prison. The April 13 memo warned of credible intelligence indicating plots by Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province to carry out coordinated attacks within the Federal Capital Territory and nearby areas.
According to the document, another potential target is the Wawa Military Prison in neighbouring Niger State. Authorities believe operatives linked to ISWAP may have already infiltrated parts of the Federal Capital Territory to facilitate the planned operations, while the Wawa prison attack is reportedly being coordinated with support from extremist factions including Ansaru and the Al-Qaeda-linked JNIM operating in the Sahel region.
Security concerns have already prompted precautionary measures around Kuje, where local authorities imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew in at least four villages following intelligence suggesting a possible assault on the correctional facility. The prison was previously attacked in 2022 when hundreds of inmates, including terrorism suspects, escaped during an ISWAP-led jailbreak.
The memo also linked the aviation threat to recent large-scale attacks on airport facilities in neighbouring Niger Republic, including an assault on Niamey airport claimed by the Islamic State Sahel Province. Analysts say the pattern suggests a growing regional strategy targeting high-profile infrastructure such as airports and detention centres.
Meanwhile, the United States Embassy in Nigeria recently allowed non-emergency personnel to depart Abuja due to worsening security concerns, though Nigerian authorities insisted there is no imminent threat to the capital. Nigeria has battled insurgency since 2009, a conflict that has killed over 40,000 people and displaced about two million, according to UN estimates.