Arrested Boko Haram Kingpin Goes Missing
Category: Boko Haram News
Barely three days after a man suspected to be a kingpin of the
dreaded Islamic sect Boko Haram was arrested in Makurdi, Benue State,
the state government and state police command are still trying to
explain how he got away.
Tension heightened in the state following the announcement of the
alleged terrorist’s arrest on Radio Benue. Shortly after the supposed
arrest, the state government claimed that the man was whisked away by
policemen to an unknown destination. However, the police countered the
claim.
According to a statement released by Special Adviser to the Benue
State governor, Cletus Akwaya, on Thursday, “a very important member of
the sect was arrested by men of the police in Kanshio, a suburb of
Makurdi town”. Shortly after the press release, the announcement was
made on the radio station.
The statement revealed that the alleged terrorist, a Fulani from
Taraba State, was arrested following a tip-off, and was found to be in
possession of six blank cheques and copies of maps of some parts of
Makurdi, the state capital.
“The detailed descriptions of the places were contained in an
exercise book. A police source disclosed that the maps showed some
possible targets for attacks. The suspect was whisked away to an unknown
location where he is being questioned by security operatives,” a
portion of the statement read.
In a turn of events, however, the spokesman of the Benue State Police
Command, DSP Daniel Ezeala, denied the arrest yesterday. He insisted
that the police only arrested a Chadian who had long been handed over to
the men of the Nigerian Immigration Service.
“The man we arrested is a Chadian and if we find him to have breached
the law in any way or suspect him of any wrong-doing, we shall charge
him to court. But we have handed him over to the immigration service,”
Ezeala said.
Eaeala could, however, not confirm if the said suspect had the items
listed in the statement in his position as made public by Akwaya’s
statement. “There is nothing like that, investigation into the matter is
on-going,” he said.
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