KEY HIGHLIGHTS
Nigeria security forces recently arrested and detained a number of Boko Haram militant Takfiris including a key senior commander linked with a series of bombings across the country.
On Sunday, Nigeria Security agency said it has made significant breakthroughs in the fight against Boko Haram. At least 20 prominent members of the Islamist group believed to have orchestrated several deadly attacks nabbed.
The dreaded Boko Haram commander Usman Shuiabu alias ‘Money’ was arrested along with 16 other members of the terror group in the states of Lagos, Enugu, Plateau, Gombe and Kano.
In a statement released on Sunday 30th August 2015 by Nigeria’s Department of State Services (DSS), the militants were nabbed in the intensified security operations in the past two months.
ASSESSMENT
According to DSS statement, Shuaibu aka Money admitted being the leader of a gang of nine sect members that was dispatched from Sambisa forest to orchestrate bomb attacks in various parts of Nigeria.
DSS operatives had foiled terrorists’ plots to attack the southwestern Lagos State which is Nigeria’s commercial hub.
It is imminent the sudden influx of Boko Haram militants into Lagos state depicts the determination of the sect to extend its nefarious terrorist activities to the state and in fact, other parts of the country.
Boko Haram which has adopted the name the ‘Western Province’ pledged allegiance to Islamic State Takfiri group, a jihadist group operating largely in Syria and Iraq.
SUMMARY
Boko Haram which began its militancy in 2009 with it sole goal to fight and overthrow the government has intensified it campaigns in Nigeria since President Muhammad Buhari assumed power early this year. However, President Buhari has made halting Boko Haram’s six-year-old insurgency a priority.
The militant group is known to oppose education and anything foreign is punishable. The group is known for its brutal killings, kidnapping and recruitment of even minors.
According to the DSS statement on Friday, a 14-year old boy was also arrested and detained for spying for Boko Haram at the main airport of capital, Abuja.
The teenager had reportedly spied on security measures and the movements of passengers at the airport.
Boko Haram violence has spilled over into Nigeria’s neighboring countries. Soldiers from Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad have been battling the terrorists in recent months.
