Misaje highway gang member arrested

A member of a highway gang of armed robbers was caught by a Gendarmerie squad in Fonfuka on Thursday, February 4 after escaping from a shootout with Gendarmes.

This was during an operation at the Subum market last Wednesday 3 February.

The robbers were known for terrorizing the people of Dumbu, Misaje, and Bum since November 2015.

The gang leader, a Nigerian by nationality, escaped immediately he got wind of the arrest of his gang members.

The number caught has moved to two as one of the gang members, another Nigerian, was earlier nabbed by an irate population at Konene in Bum Subdivision.

Presently, he is reported to be hospitalised at the Mbingo Baptist Hospital with wounds inflicted by the population which includes cutting off his tendons rendering the thief unable to walk unaided.

Expectations are high that these men of the underworld, who have caused untold suffering to people in that area, would be forced to reveal the names of all the gang members.

The gang leader whose only name we got as Ibrahim, a Nigerian, was resident in Dumbu Town serving as the master planner for all the operations that were taking place on Dumbu/Misaje road.

It is not clear where the gang got its weapons given that their leader is a Nigerian, whose line of business was not known until that fateful day. Apparently, he was providing the guns and other weapons from his native Nigeria.

With the recent development, it is suspected that this gang was a build up to another Boko Haram sect given the porous nature of the area.