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| Abubakar Shekau |
The security
operatives on Friday made a major breakthrough in the intensified campaign
against the Boko Haram insurgency by arresting the leader of the Ansaru Islamic Sect, Khalid Albarnawi.
The
Punch reported that the Acting Director Defence information, Brig. Gen. Rabe Abubakar, confirmed the arrest of the top wanted terror suspect.
Abubakar
said that Albanarwi was second in command to Abubakar Shekau in the hierarchy
of the dreaded Boko Haram Sect.
He
attributed the arrest of Albarnawi to effective collaborative efforts among the
various security agencies in the country.
The
Acting Defence Spokesman said that with the arrest of the top leader of Ansaru,
regarded as Shekau’s second in command, the days of the Boko Haram Sect were
numbered.
According
to him, the arrested terror suspect was cooperating with security operatives in
the area of volunteering information.
However,
Abubakar was not specific about which of the security agencies were in custody
of the top terror suspect.
He
called on Nigerians to cooperate with the security agencies in the ongoing
onslaught on the Boko Haram by volunteering necessary information and
intelligence to them.
He
said, “I can confirm that he (Albarnawi) is in custody. It is a product of the
existing synergy among the security agencies which led to this breakthrough in
the war on terror.
“Nigerians
should assist the security agencies with relevant information and intelligence;
I can say that the days of Boko Haram are numbered.
“We
have just confirmed that he has been nabbed and he is with the relevant
agencies and as time goes, people would know how this kind of person was nabbed
and it is due to the synergy existing among the security agencies.
“He has
been arrested and he is with the relevant agencies and he is cooperating with
giving information.
“He is
the second-in-command as far as the Boko Haram hierarchy is concerned. So their
days are numbered by the grace of God.”
An
online portal, the Cable, had quoted Ahmad Salkida, a journalist,
known for his access to some of the leaders of the Boko Haram has having said
that Albarnawi was arrested by operatives of the Department of State Servicesin Lokoja and moved to Abuja on Friday.
The
Ansaru leader, Albarnawi, who reportedly trained in the North African country
of Algeria is believed to be highly influential in the nation’s terror
network.
Ansaru
which was formed as a splinter group of the Boko Haram in January 26, 2012 and
it claimed responsibility for the November 2012 attack on the Special Anti Robbery Squad Headquarters, Abuja.
Several
top commanders of the Boko Haram were released in the attack which was praised
in a YouTube video by Shakau’s in a message to the ‘Soldiers of God in
the Islamic State of Mali.’
Also,
in the early hours of January 19, 2013, Ansaru attacked a convoy of Mali-bound
Nigerian soldiers numbering 180 from the Second Mechanised Division, Ibadan, Oyo state, killing three soldiers among others.
On June
21, 2013, the United States Department of State had declared the leader of the
Boko Haram Sect, Abubakar Shekau, and two of his lieutenants Abubakar Adam Kambar and Khalid al-Barnawi as ‘Specially Designated Global Terrorists’ under
Section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224.
The
State Department had said then that ‘Shekau is the most visible leader of Boko
Haram based in northern Nigeria, Khalid al-Barnawi and Abubakar Adam Kambar,
have ties to Boko Haram abs have close links to al-Qaeda in the Islamic
Maghreb.’
Source: Punch
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