The Nigeria Army has released a statement claiming the arrest of the brains behind the abduction of over 200 students of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State.
Director of Defence Information, DDI, Maj.-GenChris Olukolade, in the statement noted the terrorists’ intelligence cell which orchestrated the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls was headed by a businessman.
“The man, Babuji Ya’ari, who is also a member of the Youth Vigilance Group, popularly known as Civilian JTF, which he uses as cover while remaining an active terrorist, also spearheaded the murder of the Emir of Gwoza,” he said.
Olukolade said that the suspect’s main role in the group was to spy and gather information for the terrorists group.
“Babuji has been coordinating several deadly attacks in Maiduguri since 2011, including the daring attacks on Customs and military locations as well as the planting of IEDs in several locations in the town.
“The arrest of the businessman, who is a dealer in tricycles, has also yielded some vital information and facilitated the arrest of other members of the terrorists’ intelligence cell who are women. “One of them, Hafsat Bako, had earlier escaped to Gombe State to avoid suspicion but was tracked and arrested.
“Prior to her arrest, Hafsat coordinated the payment of other operatives on the payroll of the group. “In her confession, she disclosed that a minimum of N10,000 is paid to each operative depending on the enormity of his task.
“Another female suspect named Haj Kaka, who doubles as an armourer and a spy for the terrorists group, has also been arrested. Until their arrest, all the suspects actively operated a terrorists’ intelligence cell in collaboration with others still at large.
“In another development, troops deployed in Goniri, Yobe State, at the weekend had an encounter with terrorists, resulting in casualties on both sides after the attack was successfully repelled,” the DHQ stated.