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Boko Haram leader arrested in Nigeria security raid
A head of the Boko Haram sect was arrested in a raid by security operatives in northwest Nigeria’s Sokoto State, exactly four weeks after one of its most wanted leaders was shot dead, the military said on Monday.
Army spokesperson Musa Yahaya identified the arrestee as Malam Mubarak, also known as Dan Hajia, saying there were other terror suspects apprehended during the raid by a combined team of military and secret police operatives on Sunday night.
“Arrest of the prime suspect led to the apprehension of the other fleeing suspects along Sokoto-Birni Kebbi road on Monday morning,” he said, adding that the number of suspects currently been interrogated has reached 20.
Yahaya said arms were found at the suspect’s hideout at the Nakasare Community, including three AK-47 rifles, one riot gun, 153 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition, 21 prime explosive cylinders, 27 primed cans of explosives, three cartons of acid, six nine voltage batteries, a bunch of detonator cables, four containers of chemical substances and 14 knockout devices.
“Four measuring beaker, two mobile phones, a packet of matches, a packet of rubber straw, eight motorcycle alarm speakers, two thermometers, over 50 biro cut in pieces and two scissors were also recovered,” he added.
On July 11, a prime suspect was killed when security operatives engaged Boko Haram insurgents in a fierce gun battle at their hideout in Kalambaina-Gidan area of the same state.
On Saturday, the military raided a suspected hideout of the rebels as part of the ongoing efforts to rid Sokoto State of fleeing insurgents from the volatile areas like Borno, Yobe and Adamawa.
Thousands of people have been killed in attacks by Boko Haram or in clashes between the insurgents and the army in the northern states of Africa’s most populous country since 2009.
Boko Haram, based in the northeast of Nigeria, seeks to enshrine the Islamic sharia law in the Constitution, declaring war against Western education.
Amid increasing casualties including women and children, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan tried but failed to reach a ceasefire with the sect in April.
The president then declared a state of emergency in the northern states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, while intensifying the crackdown on the rebels.
