87 Boko Haram suspects among 486 travellers arrested in Abia
The Military Joint Task Force patrolling the streets in search of Boko Haram extremists
About 87 of the over 486 travellers arrested in Abia State have been identified as members of the insurgent Boko Haram group, a security source has told PREMIUM TIMES.
The travellers were arrested on Monday in Aba, along Enugu – Port Harcourt Expressway, while travelling from Northern Nigeria to Port Harcourt in several buses.
The Director of Defence Information, Chris Olukolade, had, in a statement on Tuesday, said a wanted Boko Haram suspect was identified during the screening of those arrested. He, however, did not name the suspect.
Mr. Olukolade also stated that those identified as possible security risks or illegal immigrants would be separated from their colleagues for further action.
A top security source, however, told PREMIUM TIMES, Thursday, that apart from the one earlier identified, 86 others have been identified as suspected terrorists.
“But to be double sure, we have called for additional screening,” he said.
He confirmed that the suspects were all headed to Port Harcourt when they were arrested. He said that most of them, however, had never been to Port Harcourt before now and some did not even have up to N1,000 on them.
He stated that although no weapons were discovered on them, a certain kind of body marks associated with terrorists was noted on them.
He disclosed that the suspects were being held at 144 Battalion, close to Umuahia in Abia State although the confirmed kingpin has been moved to a different location.
He, however, refused to disclose the name of the confirmed kingpin, saying it could jeopardise investigations, as some persons linked to him might try to escape from the country if his name was mentioned.
“The kingpin is making very useful statements. Initially, he was trying to deceive the interrogators until he was confronted with fresh info,” the source said.
When PREMIUM TIMES approached Mr. Olukolade with the information from the reliable source, he declined comment.
“I cannot say anything now, the screening is still ongoing,” Mr. Olukolade, a Major General, said.
The arrest of the travellers was the first major one of suspected Boko Haram insurgents by security officials in eastern part of Nigeria.
The group, which has killed thousands of people since its insurgency began in 2009, has limited its activities to Northern Nigeria leading to the declaration of a State of Emergency in Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa. The sect, however, recently threatened to attack other parts of the country.
Published On: Fri, Jun 20th, 2014
Nigerian Military Arrest Senior Boko Haram Member in Abia State
LAGOS JUNE 19TH (URHOBOTODAY)-Nigeria (Reuters) – Nigerian security forces discovered a senior member of the militant Islamist group Boko Haram among a convoy of nearly 500 travellers arrested this week in the southern state of Abia, a military spokesman said on Wednesday.
News of the arrest comes as militants are killing civilians almost daily, particularly in the largely Muslim north. At least 14 people were killed on Tuesday when a bomb tore through a venue in the northeast where fans had gathered to watch a World Cup match.
The presence of a senior Boko Haram member in Nigeria’s south would stoke fears Islamist militants are pushing into regions well beyond their northern stronghold – including in the mainly Christian south.
It would also raise concern the group, which drew worldwide attention in April when it kidnapped more than 200 girls from a school in northeast Nigeria, could eventually attempt attacks in the oil-rich Niger delta.
Officials said on Monday that nearly 500 people believed to be northerners had been arrested overnight while travelling through the south in convoy of more than 30 vans.
“The army is screening the 486 persons being held in Abia state,” defence spokesman General Chris Olukolade told Reuters on Wednesday. It had identified a “kingpin belonging to Boko Haram” among them, he said.
The army did not release the suspect’s name or photograph.
Some of those arrested had said they were headed for southern city of Port Harcourt to look for work, the government has said.
Further stoking fears that militants are targeting the south, police in neighbouring Imo state defused three bombs found at a Christian church over the weekend, a local police spokesman said. Six people have been arrested, he said.
Boko Haram has shown its growing reach in recent months by moving beyond its heartland in Nigeria’s weakly governed northeast. At least 118 people were killed in devastating back-to-back bomb blasts in the central city of Jos last month.
WORLD CUP BLAST
On Tuesday, at least 14 people, including young children were killed, when a bomb targeted a venue in the northeast town of Damaturu where fans had gathered to watch the World Cup on television.
Some people at the scene told Reuters an attacker dropped a device in front of the venue, while others said it was the work of a suicide bomber. [ID:nL5N0OY5X0]
No one claimed responsibility for the blast, but Damaturu and the surrounding Yobe state are at the heart of the five-year-old insurgency by Boko Haram.
The group was blamed for a an attack on another venue screening soccer matches in the northeastern state of Adamawa that killed at least 14 people and wounded 12. [ID:nL6N0OI12C].
A Reuters reporter at Damaturu’s General Sani Abacha Specialist Hospital counted over a dozen people dead – including small children – and at least 20 wounded.
Police on Wednesday confirmed that the death toll had risen to 14.
The Nigerian government has advised people to avoid gathering in public to watch the World Cup, concerned about potential attacks. [ID:nL6N0OO0EP] Many fans in soccer-mad Africa rely on informal venues – often open-sided structures with televisions set up in shops and side streets – to watch live coverage of the sport. Boko Haram – whose name roughly translates as “Western education is sinful” – has declared war on all signs of what it sees as corrupting Western influence. The group has killed thousands since 2009 in its push to create an Islamic state in religiously mixed Nigeria.
Source: REUTERS
Arrest of suspected Boko Haram members in Abia
The
recent arrest of 486 suspected Boko Haram members, including eight
girls, by the 144 Battalion of the Nigerian Army in Asa, near Aba, Abia
State on June 14 has once again raised the question of how secure the
entire country is presently?
It also underlines the belief in some quarters that the insurgents are finding their ways to the southern part of the country which before now was a no go-area for them. Coming a day after bombs were discovered in a Pentecostal church in Owerri, the Imo State capital that shares border with Abia State, calls for serious concern and concerted response efforts.
The timely arrest of the suspects who were moving in the convoy of 35 buses at the odd hour of that day has shown that the Nigerian military personnel in Abia State are very much alert. Many security agents on duty at such an odd hour would have been asleep fail to notice or stop the suspicious convoy. It is another milestone in the fight against insecurity in the country by the Nigerian military. It could be recalled that the 144 Battalion of Nigerian Army at Asa was established at the height of the kidnapping saga that once grounded activities in the commercial city of Aba.
The security agents should do everything possible to fish out the two buses that reportedly escaped with their occupants as they still portend danger to the people of the state and its environs. Also to assist the security agents in their investigation is the unnamed person who came to secure their release, but was arrested. The alleged statement credited to the Borno State governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima that the arrest of the suspects was a sign that if the Boko Haram insurgency is not tackled in the North, it might consume the whole country, is misguided and unwarranted.
The claim by the military authorities that one of the most wanted terror kingpins was among those arrested is a clear confirmation that the insurgents are becoming more desperate to destroy the country by all means and pull down government at all levels. It is also an indication that they now have have allies or collaborators in the Southern part of the country who are determined to use them to achieve their devilish aims.
It has been proved in our clime that nothing is impossible, especially as the 2015 elections are fast approaching and people who have lost out of the power equation are desperate to stage a comeback by all means. The security agents in the course of investigation should beam their searchlight at all corners, because some political opponents are capable of doing anything to destabilise the present government in Abia State. Before the arrest, they have been doing everything humanly possible to bring the government down, but have failed. So nothing is ruled out here, because we all saw ahead of the 2011 elections how politically-motivated kidnappings became rampart in the state, especially the commercial city of Aba. There is urgent need for regular security meeting involving all stakeholders in the state to raise awareness of the people on need for security consciousness. No stone should be left unturned in nipping in the bud the forces of darkness trying to make a return to the state.
It would be recalled that at the peak of the kidnapping menace in the state which turned Aba to a pariah city, those suspected to be behind it and their allies were in the fore-front in calling for the resignation of the state governor and declaration of the state of emergency in the state. It took the timely intervention and commitment of the state governor, Chief Theodore Orji for the scourge to be tackled. For almost two years plus, billions of the state’s funds which would have been used in the development of the state were channelled into fighting the kidnapping. Special allowances were arranged for the security agents and provision of operational equipment and the people were very co-operative.
It was during the period that the state government, in collaboration with the Federal Government established the Military Battalion in Asa and another Military Base at Abayi, Ngwa area of the state. The state government provided adequate incentives for the security agents which motivated them to fight the kidnappers until their kingpin Osisikankwu was killed in a gun duel. Since then the state government has been adequately funding and supporting the security agents, thereby making the state one of the safest and secured states in the country today. The arrest of the suspected Boko Haram members at Asa is a true manifestation of the level of security in the state which was made possible by the massive support of the state government.
The development is also a signal that the state is not and can never be a safe haven for criminal elements and their collaborators under any disguise. Other state governments have a lot to learn from Abia State on how to fight insecurity. No wonder, today the state governor, Chief Orji is a recipient of several awards on security by different organisations and countries.
Charles Urattam , a security consultant, wrote from Ikeja, Lagos
It also underlines the belief in some quarters that the insurgents are finding their ways to the southern part of the country which before now was a no go-area for them. Coming a day after bombs were discovered in a Pentecostal church in Owerri, the Imo State capital that shares border with Abia State, calls for serious concern and concerted response efforts.
The timely arrest of the suspects who were moving in the convoy of 35 buses at the odd hour of that day has shown that the Nigerian military personnel in Abia State are very much alert. Many security agents on duty at such an odd hour would have been asleep fail to notice or stop the suspicious convoy. It is another milestone in the fight against insecurity in the country by the Nigerian military. It could be recalled that the 144 Battalion of Nigerian Army at Asa was established at the height of the kidnapping saga that once grounded activities in the commercial city of Aba.
The security agents should do everything possible to fish out the two buses that reportedly escaped with their occupants as they still portend danger to the people of the state and its environs. Also to assist the security agents in their investigation is the unnamed person who came to secure their release, but was arrested. The alleged statement credited to the Borno State governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima that the arrest of the suspects was a sign that if the Boko Haram insurgency is not tackled in the North, it might consume the whole country, is misguided and unwarranted.
The claim by the military authorities that one of the most wanted terror kingpins was among those arrested is a clear confirmation that the insurgents are becoming more desperate to destroy the country by all means and pull down government at all levels. It is also an indication that they now have have allies or collaborators in the Southern part of the country who are determined to use them to achieve their devilish aims.
It has been proved in our clime that nothing is impossible, especially as the 2015 elections are fast approaching and people who have lost out of the power equation are desperate to stage a comeback by all means. The security agents in the course of investigation should beam their searchlight at all corners, because some political opponents are capable of doing anything to destabilise the present government in Abia State. Before the arrest, they have been doing everything humanly possible to bring the government down, but have failed. So nothing is ruled out here, because we all saw ahead of the 2011 elections how politically-motivated kidnappings became rampart in the state, especially the commercial city of Aba. There is urgent need for regular security meeting involving all stakeholders in the state to raise awareness of the people on need for security consciousness. No stone should be left unturned in nipping in the bud the forces of darkness trying to make a return to the state.
It would be recalled that at the peak of the kidnapping menace in the state which turned Aba to a pariah city, those suspected to be behind it and their allies were in the fore-front in calling for the resignation of the state governor and declaration of the state of emergency in the state. It took the timely intervention and commitment of the state governor, Chief Theodore Orji for the scourge to be tackled. For almost two years plus, billions of the state’s funds which would have been used in the development of the state were channelled into fighting the kidnapping. Special allowances were arranged for the security agents and provision of operational equipment and the people were very co-operative.
It was during the period that the state government, in collaboration with the Federal Government established the Military Battalion in Asa and another Military Base at Abayi, Ngwa area of the state. The state government provided adequate incentives for the security agents which motivated them to fight the kidnappers until their kingpin Osisikankwu was killed in a gun duel. Since then the state government has been adequately funding and supporting the security agents, thereby making the state one of the safest and secured states in the country today. The arrest of the suspected Boko Haram members at Asa is a true manifestation of the level of security in the state which was made possible by the massive support of the state government.
The development is also a signal that the state is not and can never be a safe haven for criminal elements and their collaborators under any disguise. Other state governments have a lot to learn from Abia State on how to fight insecurity. No wonder, today the state governor, Chief Orji is a recipient of several awards on security by different organisations and countries.
Charles Urattam , a security consultant, wrote from Ikeja, Lagos
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