Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika,
-Boko Haram kills Qaqa’s father -Troops gun down two in Borno
FIVE suspected Boko Haram members, including a Maurit-anian linked to North Africa’s branch of al-Qaeda, are being held by security agencies over the abduction of a German - Edgar Fritz.
Four of the suspects were arrested last week in a raid on a store owned by the Mauritanian in Kano. The fifth was picked up in a separate raid by the Joint Task Force (JTF), security sources told the AFP yesterday.
News of their arrest came on the heels of a report that detained Boko Haram spokesman Abu Dardaa’s adopted father had been killed. Dardaa is popularly known as Abu Qaqa.
Qaqa’s foster father, Abdullahi Bello, a retired Deputy-Comptroller of Prisons, was killed Monday evening in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.
He was killed alongside his friend, also a retired prison officer,, while performing ablution ahead of the sunset (Magrib) prayers at Bello’s residence, Baya Quarters.
The news came also amid reports that the JTF yesterday killed two suspected Boko Haram members trying to escape from custody in Maiduguri.
“Guns and a laptop were recovered in the store and the documents found in the computer, including an AQIM operation manual, showed that the suspects are linked to AQIM (al-Qaeda in the Islamic Magrib) and were involved in the kidnap of the German engineer in January,” one of the sources said while recounting the store raid.
Edgar, an engineer, was kidnapped on the outskirts of Kano in January.
AQIM said last week it was holding the German and that it wanted to swap him for a jailed Muslim woman, a private news agency in Mauritania said.
The Federal Government has come under intense pressure over the kidnapping as well as violence blamed on the Islamist group.
It also faced criticism after a failed bid to rescue an Italian and a British hostage earlier this month.
The hostages were killed by their captors before they could be rescued in a joint operation with British security forces.
Bello, who hailed from Kogi State, was said to have just returned to his house, located some metres away from the demolished enclave of the late Boko Haram leader, Mohammed Yusuf.
He was said to have been out of the state for a long time. “The gunmen came and shot him and his friend as they rounded off their ablution at about 6.30pm,” a resident said.
The Joint Task Force (JTF) explained that the resumption of the house-to-house search by its troops in some flash spots of Boko Haram attacks within the metropolis was aimed at fishing out the sect’s members and providing security for residents.
Spokesman of the task force, Lt.-Col. Sagir Musa said in a statement: “What you are seeing (movement of troops to some areas and search of houses) is a normal routine patrol conducted by the JTF in areas considered as flash points. Targeted and deliberate cordon-and-search were been carried out in some selected locations in Abbaganaram, Budum and Jajeri.”
Lt.-Col. Musa advised residents not to panic by the presence of JTF patrol vehicles and troops, even as he urged the people to continue their legitimate businesses “unmolested and support the task force in its efforts to maintain law and order”.
He also noted that the search-and-cordon would be continuously applied.
In a statement, Lt.-Col. Musa, said: “Following a tip-off, a special operation was conducted that resulted in the arrest of a notorious commander of Boko Haram who was involved in recent attacks in Maiduguri.
“He was arrested with his lieutenant in Jajeri area of the city. They attempted to escape when being moved to detention facilities and were shot by JTF troops and they bleed to death before they got to the hospital.”
“Their bodies have since been deposited at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) morgue. A pump action gun, two bows and arrows, three machetes and a mobile telephone handset were recovered from their hideout,” Lt.-Col. Musa said.
The JTF spokesman said the incident occurred at about 1:30pm yesterday, even as he added that some suspected bandits were killed by the JTF, which was responding to a distress call.
“The JTF responded to a distress call during which they engaged a group of suspected armed bandits, who robbed some houses in EYN Farm Centre, Kachalari Maiduguri city,” Lt.-Col. Musa said.
According to him, in the shoot-out with the bandits, two were gunned down by the military and the others fled. Lt.-Col. said three locally-made pistols, 15 rounds of assorted ammunition, four machetes and a telephone handset were recovered from the bandits.
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