Boko Haram commander arrested

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps on Sunday said it had arrested a 56-year-old Boko Haram kingpin in the Aski Uba Local Government Area of Borno State.

The Commandant of the NSCDC in Borno State, Mr. Ibrahim Abdullahi, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Maiduguri.

Abdullahi said the suspect was apprehended at Mussa village last week.

“Our men have made remarkable progress by arresting a Boko Haram kingpin.

“The notorious kingpin was said to be a recruiter as well as supplier of arms and IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) to the Boko Haram terrorists.

“He confessed that his three children were also arrowheads of the Boko Haram sect,’’ he said.

Abdullahi added that the command had since handed over the suspect to the Army for further investigation.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government has signed a tripartite agreement with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and the Republic of Cameroon for the return of Nigerian refugees who had fled to Cameroon for safety and are currently taking refuge in the neighbouring country.

According to the government, Nigerian refugees in Cameroon are staying there voluntarily and in a dignified manner, adding that there are about 80,000 displaced Nigerians currently taking refuge the country.

The Director-General, National Emergency Management Agency, Sani Sidi, disclosed this when the African Union Humanitarian Mission, led by the Commissioner of Political Affairs, Dr. Aisha Abdullahi, visited the headquarters of NEMA in Abuja.

Sidi, in a statement by the agency’s Senior Information Officer, Mr. Sani Datti, on Sunday, stated that the Federal Government had been making efforts to cater for all the basic needs of the affected refugees.

He explained that the Federal Government as well as the governments of states affected by the insurgency, United Nations Organisations, International non-Governmental Organisations and some private sector players, had done a lot in the past four years to manage the large number of Internally Displaced Persons in the North-East.

“We have moved from the emergency response stage to recovery and resettlement of the IDPs,” he said.

Sidi urged the visiting commissioner to use her offices at the African Union to secure more assistance for the affected persons and the states.