The police and members of the vigilante youth group popularly known as Civilian JTF, yesterday confirmed that 11 persons were killed, 13 injured while eight others are still missing in two fresh Boko Haram attacks in Borno State.
The Civilian JTF operatives had on Friday morning recovered nine corpses of rice farmers who were said to have been abducted by Boko Haram militants on Thursday.
Eight other farmers were also reported missing and five more wounded when the insurgents attacked rice farms in Khaddamari and Dusuman communities of Jere Local Government Area of the state.
Elsewhere along the Maiduguri-Mafa way, two suspected female suicide bombers were killed when they detonated the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) strapped to their bodies. Eight other persons, including a personnel of the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) were injured in the incident.
The state police spokesman, DSP Victor Isuku, in a statement he issued in Maiduguri, said, “yesterday (Friday) at about 1738 hours, two female suicide bombers detonated IEDs against a vehicle on a feeder road off Maiduguri/Mafa highway, close to the NDLEA checkpoint on the outskirts of Maiduguri township.
“Only the two bombers died in the explosion, while eight others including a personnel of NDLEA sustained injuries, and are responding to treatment.
“The vehicle, a golf taxi with Reg. No. XA 479 DRZ laden with bags of charcoal with two female passengers and a tricycle (Keke-Napep) close to the scene were affected by the explosion.
“The scene has since been rendered safe by police EOD team and normalcy restored to the area”.
On the rice farm attack, a Civilian JTF member, Ismail Ali, who participated in the operations, said, “so far, we have recovered corpses of farmers abducted on Thursday in different places. Nine bodies were found in bushes around Azaya-Dusuman and Zamarmari areas.
“Five others were injured while some are still missing. As I’m speaking with you, some people are looking for their children”.
Meanwhile, but for providence, terrorists of the Islamic State of West Africa (ISWA) would have rained bombs on Abuja, Kano, Kaduna, Niger, Bauchi, Yobe and Borno States, during the last Eid el Kabir.
The Department of State Services (DSS) got wind of the plan and swiftly moved in to nip it in the bud.
The alleged mastermind of the plot, Husseini Mai-Tangaran, was also arrested by the agency.
He was picked up in Kano on August 31, the eve of the celebration.
The DSS described him yesterday as “a well known senior ISWA commander who has been on the Service and Nigeria Army radar since 2012, when he spearheaded the armed attacks on the office of the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Zone I, on 20th January, 2012, as well as other public places in Kano.”
He is also said to have been responsible for “the deadly explosive attacks against worshippers at the Kano Central Mosque as well as an attack on a military formation in Yobe State in 2015, which claimed hundreds of lives.
“Under the banner of the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA) which he belongs, Mai-Tangaran, an IED expert had been prepping and priming others for the perpetration of suicide bombing attacks carried out by the group in the past within the North-East region,” it added.
The DSS, in a statement in Abuja, said the ‘sinister plans’ which would have involved the deployment of suicide bombers and gun attacks were aimed at causing mayhem during the festivities.
Also in the custody of the security agency are eight other suspects including Abdulkadir Umar Mohammed said to be a Boko Haram fighter and Muhammed Ali, described as the financial courier of the group in Kano.
The agency said Abdulkadir Mohammed “left the conclave of the group in the Sambisa forest, to join ranks with ISWA towards carrying out the attacks being planned by the group.”
Prior to his arrest at Sheka on September 3, Muhammed Ali, according to the DSS was “one of the conduits through which funds and other material logistics were channelled to the group from foreign extremist elements/sponsors.
“Like Abdulkadir Umar Mohammed, Ali was involved in the plot to perpetrate the planned attacks in Kano and other states in the North.”
Also arrested are two other fighters of the Habib Al-Barnawi-led Islamic State of West Africa (ISWA) in Minna, Niger State, Abdulkarim Mohammed aka Baba Maigiwa, said to be a spy/ double agent to the Boko Haram group in the North-East region, and three individuals whose names were not revealed.
Yahaya Mohammed Abatcha and Yusuf Mohammed are tagged “leading elements of a cell of the extremist group and have been hibernating and furthering the doctrines of the group in the city.
“They were also said to be responsible for operations in FCT Abuja, Kaduna and Niger states.
Baba Maigiwa, according to the DSS, “has been spying on targets in Maiduguri, particularly troops’ deployments/positioning and subsequently passing same to elements of the group in Sambisa forest, while also pretending to be working for the security forces.
Maigiwa’s apprehension led to the arrest of the three whose names were not given.
The service however said they are “cooperating in providing useful information on the diabolical plans of the group.”
The DSS said it also has in its custody one Moses Peverga suspected to be a major source of arms supply to the Gana Akwaza-led gangs in Benue State.
Though based in Lokoja, he was trailed and apprehended after investigations revealed who he is.
