by ‘Jola Sotubo

According to SaharaReporters, the man now identified as Yusuf Isiaka, with Twitter handle Ciaxon, who tweeted photos of the recent Boko Haram jailbreak, was beaten by guards and dragged away.

News surfaced recently that he had been arrested and was currently being detained by the Department of State Security Services (SSS) in Abuja.

Isiaka was the major source of news stories for the jailbreak, which occurred on March 30, as he shared live pictures of the incident as it was unfolding and gave updates as to what was going on.

Yussuf is said to be a member of staff of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria working at a branch in the environs of the state house and the SSS headquarters.

According to Sahara Reporters:

Yussuf, whose last was given as Isiaka is an Igbira from Kogi state. He was arrested soon after his tweets, and has not been seen since then.

The eyewitnesses say he had worked the night shift the night before at a PHCN substation near the Presidential Villa as an engineer, and was waiting for his colleagues to arrive for work that morning so he could go home, when the security incident occurred.

Yusuf is said to be widely-known in the area, and to be a friend to most of the DSS and military intelligence personnel who take shifts at the Gate-7. Our sources say they all normally interact and share jokes as there is hardly any activity or threat in that neighbourhood. Gate-7 is rarely in use.

Ironically, it was the same friends who handed him over when one of the security personnel received a call informing him of pictures of the attack appearing online, leading to questions as to how the picture went viral while the shooting was ongoing.

Yusuf was reportedly handed over to a security team, which descended on him with punches and gun butts before taking him into a nearby building. Yussuf is also said to have witnessed the summary killing of two Boko Haram boys who were caught in the bush behind the DSS building. Both boys, who only spoke Kanuri, were reportedly executed on the spot after they had surrendered.

The source expressed surprise only Yusuf was arrested, as some of the security personnel also took pictures. Meanwhile, his Toyota Camry car is still parked in the PHCN compound at DSS/State House Gate-7 as friends express fear that he might have been killed or seriously injured.