by S’ola Filani

The Nigerian military has arrested one of the abductors of the 200 school girls in Chibok, Borno state.

The alleged abductor of the Chibok girls, identified as Babuji Ya’ari, was  arrested after leading an attack in which the Emir of Gwoza, Alh. Idriss Timta, was killed a few weeks ago. He also supervised the bombing of a Divisional Police Headquarters in Shani Local Government Area of Borno State days ago.

The Director of Defence Information, Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade, disclosed in a statement issued in Abuja, on Monday.

In the statement, it was said that the arrest of Ya’ari led to the arrest of several other Boko Haram intelligence cell members.

Olukolade said that those arrested had confessed their involvement with the deadly sect and named several others who were being trailed.

Read the full statement below:

“A terrorists’ intelligence cell headed by a businessman, who participated actively in the abduction of School Girls in Chibok has been busted by troops. The man, Babuji Ya’ari, who is also a member of the Youth Vigilante Group popularly known as Civilian JTF which he uses as cover while remaining an active terrorist, also spearheaded the murder of the Emir of Gwoza. His main role in the group is to spy and gather information for the terrorist group.

“Babuji has been coordinating several deadly attacks in Maiduguri since 2011, including the daring attacks on Customs and military locations as well as the planting of IEDs in several locations in the town.

“The arrest of the businessman, who is known to deal in tricycles has also yielded some vital information and facilitated the arrest of other members of the terrorists’ intelligence cell who are women. One of them, Hafsat Bako had earlier escaped to Gombe State to avoid suspicion but was tracked and arrested. Prior to her arrest, Hafsat coordinated the payment of other operatives on the payroll of the group. In her confession, she disclosed that a minimum of N10,000 is paid to each operative depending on the enormity of his task.

“Another female suspect named Haj Kaka, who doubles as an armourer and a spy for the terrorist group has also been arrested. Until their arrest, all the suspects actively operated a terrorists’ intelligence cell in collaboration with others still at large.

“In another development, troops deployed in Goniri, Yobe State, over the weekend, had an encounter with terrorists, resulting in casualties on both sides after the attack was successfully repelled”.