ON THE SAME DAY that unknown gunmen shot dead Mohammed Ali, a prominent Shiite leader in Kano, members of Nigeria’s military task force empowered to battle violent extremists in the country apprehended Suleiman Mohammed, an operational commander of the group of mass-murderers popularly known as Boko Haram.
Mohammed, who was arrested during a raid at his Farawa Babban Layi Street residence in Kano, was held along with his wife and five children.
Sophisticated weapons were recovered during the raid, including a rifle, 10 improvised explosive devices (IEDs), three pistols, and 1,000 rounds of live ammunition. No shots were fired during the raid on Mr. Mohammed’s home.
Mohammed’s arrest is welcome news for the President Goodluck Jonathan-led government after a spate of high-profile bombings and shootings across northern Nigeria, violence that has claimed thousands of lives since the terrorist Islamic group began its rebellion in 2009.
The killer-terrorists, whose official name in Arabic translates as “People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet’s Teachings and Jihad,” have said they are on a mission to topple the government and replace the Constitution with Islamic sharia law.
Recently, a spokesman have offered to open dialogue with President Goodluck Jonathan, but the group showed little room for compromise regarding its main mission, and Nigerian military operations against the group seem likely to continue.
Kano State police commissioner Ibrahim Idris confirmed the arrest of the sect leader on Friday, adding that “the arrest came after a tipoff by the society agencies, through the information from the general public of suspicious movement of the people into the sect leader house.”
“Yes, security agencies successfully arrested the top sect leader in the state, whom we’ve alleged to be the operational commander of the sect in the state. {The] investigation commences after the arrest,” Mr. Idris told reporters.
He explained that the security agencies suspect the arrested sect leader was behind a series of attacks against security forces, Christian churches, and the killing of other innocent citizens.
Police say that they have recovered more than a dozen IEDs from the premises of Bayero University since the bomb attack of April 29 at the university.
Lt. Ikedichi Iweha, the spokesman of the joint military task force (JTF), also confirmed the arrest of the sect top profile leader.
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The gunman apparently killed Mohammed Ali after a car they stole from him was disabled shortly after they began to drive it away.
Witnesses say the gunmen, believed to members of the same terrorist group popularly known as Boko Haram had approached the cleric demanding to use his car for God’s work.
He gave out the car but few metres away from the cleric, the car’s security activated, disabling it.
The gunmen, apparently angered, came back on bikes and shot him dead in his residence.
Friday’s developments came shortly after the Federal Government reiterated its readinesson Thursday to dialogue with the terrorists and other aggrieved groups, while calling on them to cease fire.
Vice President Namadi Sambo disclosed this at a National Symposium organized in Abuja by Nasirul-Lahi-Faith Society of Nigeria (NASFAT), tagged “Islam and Peaceful Co- Existence in a Contemporary Multi-Religious Society’.
Sambo, who was the Special Guest of Honour at the occasion said: “Government is ready to discuss. History has proven that even wars that are fought for decades, at the end, are only concluded by dialogue.”
The vice-president lamented the activities of some negative forces whose activities have portrayed Islam in a negative and evil light, saying: “Islam is a religion of peace; it is a way of life. It cannot promote senseless killings and wanton destruction of property. I am not aware of any religion in the world that encourages unprovoked and relentless attack on other people.”
He reiterated the determination of the current administration to provide adequate security for the lives and property of all Nigerians and visitors.