SSS arrests Lagos-based Boko Haram kingpin in Minna

Posted by admin Boko Haram, Headlines Monday, August 8th, 2011

Some operatives of the State Security Service (SSS) were said to have swooped on key chieftains of the dreaded Boko Haram sect in Minna, Niger State at the weekend where they effected the arrest of seven chieftains.

It was gathered that the lead suspect is a Lagos-based businessman, whose name was given as Yusuff.

He was said to have made Minna his operational base in recent times and was said to have been present in the state on two occasions when bombs went off in Suleja.

Sources in the administration told the Nigerian Tribune that six other loyalists of the said kingpin were arrested in a swoop by the security forces.

Sources further confirmed that serious surveillance had been mounted on the said Yusuff for sometime now, especially when it was confirmed that his visits to Niger State coincided with the two bomb blasts that rocked the state in recent past.

“The man claims to be a businessman in Lagos but he comes into Niger State on occasions. In recent times, his lifestyle has changed and he was around in the state during the bomb blast in Suleja before the election and the one that happened recently in a church,” a source said.

The arrest was said to have been effected on Saturday, with six others linked to the Boko Haram sect also arrested the same day in the state.

The suspect is said to have been linked with another highly placed person, whose identity is being kept under wraps, a source said.

“The said Yusuff is usually in the state when bombs explode and he promptly returns to Lagos afterwards, so people watched him overtime and they discovered some strange movements. The close watch led to the arrest of the kingpin and six others,” a source stated.

It was learnt that security chiefs have commenced further investigations to possibly link the man with operations of Boko Haram not only in Niger State but across the states of the North.wp_posts