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Recent arrests of Boko Haram kingpins and their confessional statements seem to have taken security agencies closer to victory against the sect

For quite sometime now, Boko Haram, the fundamentalist Islamist sect that seeks the imposition of Sharia law in 12 Northern states has become a virulent thorn in the flesh of the Nigerian nation. The insurgency by the sect has led to the senseless killing of hundreds of innocent people. The sect’s suicide bombers have unleashed mayhem on citizens, first in Borno and Yobe states and later Bauchi, Gombe, Adamawa, Kaduna, Plateau, Niger, and Kano. It has killed a least 700 persons in the past two years.

The Boko Haram phenomenon became even more complex on January 8, when President Goodluck Jonathan expressed concern that members of the sect had infiltrated the ranks of his government and the nation’s security agencies, hence, the security agencies were always caught off guard by their attacks.

However, there are indications that General Andrew Owoye Azazi, national security adviser, NSA, and the security agencies have become much more determined to quell the Boko Haram menace. Since the dramatic escape of Kabiru Abubakar Dikko Umar, alias Kabiru Sokoto, the suspected mastermind of the 2011 Christmas Day bombing of a church in Madalla, which led to the immediate retirement of Hafiz Ringim as inspector general of police and suspension of Hassan Zakari Biu, commissioner of police, under whose custody the suspect was before his disappearance, the security agencies have woken up from their slumber.

In the past few weeks, the security agencies have renewed with vigour the clampdown on Boko Haram and this has led to the arrest of Abu Qaqa, spokesman of the sect, and the re-arrest of Abubakar Dikko, alias Kabiru Sokoto, at his hide-out behind a cloth line in the house of a relative at Mutum-Biu in Gassol local government area of Taraba State, very close to the Cameroonian border on February 10.  He was arrested by a combined team of operatives of the State Security Service, SSS, and military personnel. The arrest of these two high profile Boko Haram kingpins is being celebrated as a major breakthrough in security circles.

Abu Qaqa, the 42-year-old kingpin from Eviya South village in Ajaokuta local government area of Kogi State is the chief propagandist of the sect, while Kabiru Sokoto, 28, who hails from Gagi village, Sokoto South local government area of Sokoto State is a member of the Sura Committee - the highest advisory/decision-making board of Boko Haram, and was in February 2009, declared leader of the sect in Sokoto State by Mohammed Yusuf, the late national leader of Boko Haram.

Both men and more than 30 other “key” members of the sect. in custody of the SSS are believed to be the main pillar of support for Abubakar Shekau, national leader of the sect, who succeeded the late Yusuf in 2009.

Newswatch learnt that the security agencies were upbeat on their ability to crush the Boko Haram sect based on these arrests and the revelations contained in the confessional statements of both Qaqa and Kabiru Sokoto as regards the mode of operation of the terrorist group. Indeed, since their arrest, top level intelligence operatives have been busy interrogating them and their findings which were said to be mind boggling will definitely assist the security agencies in the battle against Boko Haram. The security agencies appear to be on top of the situation. This was why Marilyn Ogar, deputy director of public affairs of  SSS, was upbeat about the arrests of these two Boko Haram kingpins. “Security agencies would like to seize this opportunity to reassure Nigerians of our collective resolve to stamp out terror from our country. We are poised to bring to an end, the activities of a few unscrupulous elements and to also warn that the long arm of the law will always catch up with those who perpetrate evil. We, hereby, crave the maximum support and co-operation of all Nigerians as we strive to rid our society of terror. We are not terrorists. We are Nigerians,’’ Ogar said.

Qaqa, who was arrested by the SSS using the Global Positioning tracking System, GPS, in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, a few weeks ago, was said to have given further insight into the operation of the sect. According to security sources, the embattled Boko Haram spokesman told SSS officials that suicide bombers were chosen among members of the sect by their leader and once a person was chosen, he had no option but to carry out the assignment. Any member who refuses to go on a suicide mission will instead face the death penalty. “No suicide bomber of the group volunteers. They are usually handpicked. Once you are handpicked, it is death either way; if you refuse, you would be killed on the orders of the leadership. So, many prefer the suicide bomb option, far away from their wives and children,” Qaqa was quoted to have told the SSS. He also   said that most of members of the sect being used for suicide bombing were Chadians, Nigeriens, Cameroonians, Hausa, Fulani and others. But members from Kanuri, the ethnic group of Shekau, their leader, were hardly sent on suicide missions.

Qaqa also revealed to his interrogators that there exists deep division amongst the ranks of Boko Haram along ethnic lines. The division is between the dominant Kanuri members of the group and the others who consist of Hausa, Fulani, Chadians and Nigeriens. He said the realisation by the non-Kanuri members of the group that most of those on suicide mission and those who were arrested were often non-Kanuris, has fuelled the suspicion that there exists sectional betrayal. This is believed to have split the sect.

Newswatch also gathered that the splinter group might have been the ones that actually compromised the location and identity of Qaqa which eventually led to his arrest. Sources told Newswatch that the splinter group is mainly made of those who were showing signs of fatigue in the arms struggle with the Nigerian state and thus favouring dialogue to end the insurrection.  It was learnt that Qaqa confirmed that this deep division within the sect led to the recent move by the splinter group to get the federal government to the negotiation table. It delivered a tape to the Nigeria Television Authority, NTA, on its interest in dialogue. In the tape, five persons were named as negotiators on behalf of the group. They are Sheikh Abubakar Gero, Shettitima Ali Munguno, Bukar Ibrahim, Jinadu Idris and Aisha Al-Wakil. The speaker in the tape said the decision taken by their appointed negotiators could bring change to the entire situation. “Their word is our word. We trust and respect them,” the group spokesperson said.

Newswatch learnt that the security agencies are already cashing in on the division within the ranks of Boko Haram to intensify efforts to subdue them. They are also exploring the option of using intelligence information gathered from Qaqa and Kabiru Sokoto to apprehend Shekau, the Boko Haram leader, which they believe would further put the sect in disarray and kill their fighting spirit.

Based on the interrogation of Qaqa, top SSS officials have been able to establish the sources of funding of Boko Haram. Their financiers are mainly politicians and the money they realise from raiding banks.  He was said to have revealed how N 41 million reportedly procured by some members tore the sect apart. Sources said that the money is usually shared among five groups: the less privileged, widows of those that died in the Jihad, Zakat, those that brought in the money and the last, to the leadership to be used in prosecuting the Jihad. But in the case of the N41 million, there was acrimony because they did not quite  know how the money was spent and nobody dared ask questions for fear of  Shekau who could pronounce death as his punishment.

Newswatch further gathered from security sources that contrary to the claim by Boko Haram that the person arrested was not Qaqa, their spokesman but Abu Darda, the truth is that he is indeed the real chief propagandist of the sect. He was said to have confirmed to his interrogators that he had answered different names, including Mohammed Shuaibu, Mohammed Bello, Abu Tiamiya, and Abdulrahman Abdullahi at various times. He was also said to have adopted Abu Dardaa and later Abu Qaqa, after he was set free during a Bauchi jail break some years back.

Qaqa is said to have been responsible for the issuance of all threats from the hidden enclave of the sect in Maiduguri metropolis, including the ones that preceded bombings of the Police Force headquarters building, the UN building, several other co-ordinated attacks and bombings in the northern states of Borno, Yobe, Gombe, Bauchi, Niger, Adamawa, and of recent, Kano, the second most populous state in the country, where over 185 people were killed.

A few days before his arrest, Qaqa had sent a threat message to Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar 111, the Sultan  of  Sokoto, Aminu Tambuwal, speaker, House of Representatives and Sokoto State acting governor, urging them to facilitate the unconditional release of Boko Haram members who were arrested  or the country would face possible attack worse than the Kano attack.

 Perhaps, the greatest breakthrough which would facilitate the current efforts of the security agents to get to the root of the problem is the latest revelation by Kabiru Sokoto that some top politicians, bank managers, and traditional rulers were the key sponsors of the sect. After screening the handsets belonging to the kingpin, the SSS discovered several text messages and call logs to influential politicians and traditional rulers. Sources told Newswatch that although some of such text messages were coded, Kabiru Sokoto has since his re-arrest decoded them to interrogators. He also informed his interrogators the sources of the deadly weapons, and explosives they use in their bombings. According to security sources, the Boko Haram kingpin confirmed that they get some of the arms and ammunition from police armoury.

What is still being kept secret are the identities of the alleged sponsors of Boko Haram. Some of prominent personalities in the North who have links with Boko Haram have become jittery since they realised that Kabiru Sokoto has decoded the messages in the call logs of his phones.  The call log also recorded Kabiru Sokoto’s conversation with the suicide bomber who struck at the Louis Edet House police headquarters in Abuja, last year, a few moments before the attack.

Although the names of the alleged sponsors of Boko Haram remained a top secret in security circle last week, one issue that caused ripples was a recent bombshell by one Sani Haliru, an ex-Boko Haram now converted Christian alleging that Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, former military leader, is one of the sponsors of the sect.

Haliru, who claimed that he hails from Niger Republic while his mother is from Borno State, claimed that he was trained as a terrorist in Benghazi, Libya, along with Mohammed Yusuf, the late leader of Boko Haram. He said Babangida “has more than 600 men and women Jihadist under his pay role.

But in a swift reaction, last week, Babangida described as spurious and unfounded the allegation by Haliru. Kassim Afegbua, Babangida’s spokesman, described Haliru as a deluded mind, who for want of very cheap relevance, decided to mention the highly respected name of IBB as one of the “sponsors” of what he called Boko Haram. “From our first reading, we felt it would amount to giving undue relevance to a confused mind if we volunteer a response, but for the teeming supporters, associates and friends of IBB, for the price we owe history, we decided to offer this disclaimer.”

Babangida denied knowing Haliru and faulted the interview, which he described as full of inconsistencies. “From that premise, therefore, it will be save to conclude that the interview was structured by certain agents of government to satisfy pre-determined position,” Babangida said.

Beyond Haliru’s claim and IBB’s disclaimer, Kabiru Sokoto has equally revealed the identity of one Habbibu Bama, an ex-soldier and his accomplice in the Christmas Day bombings to SSS investigators. Consequently, the SSS has declared Bama wanted. He has been declared wanted by the service on behalf of the Federal Government in connection with crimes against the state.

Bama, who is Kanuri by tribe and hails from Bama, Borno State, is also known by such names as Habib Bama; Shuaibu Bama and Habib Mamman.

Ogar, SSS spokesperson, said members of the public with any information that could lead to his arrest should immediately contact the nearest police station, military formation or any other security agency. Bama is believed to be the driver of the vehicle which dropped the second bomb that exploded at St. Theresa Catholic Church, Madalla, Niger State, shortly after the first one.

 Another aspect of Kabiru Sokoto’s  confessional statement which could  implicate both Biu and Ringim, former IGP, if  investigation eventually proves it to be correct  was  his about dramatic escape  at Abaji  which contradicts the claim of the police. 

The police claimed that four officers had escorted him in handcuff to his house in Abaji for searching and on their way to the palace of Ona of Abaji, the traditional ruler of the town, a gang of youths waylaid the Toyota Hilux in which the suspect was being driven, snatched him and spirited him away.

But sources told Newswatch that Kabiru Sokoto confessed that he was not handcuffed and that there was no shootout between the police and anybody when he escaped. There were indications last week that the Force Disciplinary Committee, FDC, the team investigating the January 15 escape of Kabiru Sokoto, would likely bring him before Biu. This   would enable the probe panel determine if Biu’s testimony on how Kabiru Sokoto escaped was true or not. The committee is also exploring the theory that the police played a role in facilitating the escape saga; whether he had any link with Ringim, former IGP. This is considered imperative because Aliyu Tishau, a leader of Boko Haram, had late last year, granted an interview where he claimed he was well known to Ringim and that he had given advance warnings to the police prior to some of the bombings carried out by the sect.

Besides, the FCD intends to establish the circumstances that led to Biu’s reinstatement in the police after about 12 years. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s directive had directed that he should not be reabsorbed by the police based on his role as the head of Sani Abacha’s task force on terrorism. The FCD also wants to establish what warranted his being given such a “sensitive assignment” by former IGP, Sources said that the reinstatement of Biu by Ringin was being viewed with suspicion because ordinarily when an officer is rested for 12 years whether due to court process or disciplinary matter, he ought not to be re-integrated into the service because he would have become rustic. But Ringim, the former IGP prevailed on the Police Service Commission to reinstate him because he was his classmate.

There were indications last week that Biu and other four policemen involved in the Kabiru Sokoto escape saga risk dismissal for negligence and dereliction of duty, especially as they bungled the sensitive assignment they were given which would have worsened the  menace of Boko Haram if not for the recent re-arrest of the suspect. As Nigerians await the report of the FDC on Kabiru Sokoto’s escape, Mohammed Dikko Abubakar, the new inspector general of police, last week reiterated the determination of police to team up with other security agencies to confront Boko Haram, anytime the sect members carried out raids in any part of the country.  At a crucial meeting with assistant commissioners of police in charge of operations, AC Ops, as well as those in charge of investigations, in the 36 state commands, Abubakar frowned at what he described as their inefficiency in tackling or preventing such attacks in the past. He believes that it was the inefficiency of top police officers in some states that led to the incessant bombings of police stations in some northern states in recent times. He told them that it would no longer be business as usual because the battle against the sect must be won.

The IGP also constituted a committee to review all cases of Boko Haram suspects arrested between 2010 till date who were released on bail. He directed the committee to study all the case files of Boko Haram suspects who were released, harmonise them and find any possible means of rearresting them.

Newswatch learnt that the IGP believes strongly that if the investigations had been properly carried out and the suspects given appropriate punishment, by now, the key members and sponsors of Boko Haram would have been tamed before the problem  got out of hand.

On its part, The Joint Task Force, JTF,   deployed to the Borno State axis to quell the crisis, code-named Operation Restore Order, ORO, has stepped up its crackdown on Boko Haram. In one of its confrontation with the sect last week in Maiduguri, the state capital, the JTF killed 12 members of the sect and arrested six prominent persons suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect. 

Colonel Victor Ebhaleme, the JTF field commander, said the arrest was part of the team’s renewed efforts to clamp down on members of the sect. “We have continued to record breakthroughs in our effort to ensure the return of peace in Maiduguri. Consequently, we have arrested six high profile suspected members of the Boko Haram sect,” he said. He was optimistic the JTF was now poised to end the activities of the sect. However, while the security agencies strategise on how to actualise what  looks like “the beginning of the end of  Boko Haram, leaders of the sect are still  threatening to unleash mayhem on the nation. Last week, one Abu Qaqa, who claimed to be the spokesman of the sect, said in a telephone interview with reporters in Maiduguri that the arrest of some of the top leaders of the sect would not stop what he termed as the “holy war.” He explained that the security agencies who thought that the arrest of Abu Dardaa (Abu Qaqa) and the re-arrest of Kabiru Sokoto would deter them were making a big mistake. Rather, the arrests would make them wax stronger. He recalled that the killing of Yusuf, their former leader, and some of the sect’s members did not stop the war and so no amount of intimidation or arrest by security agents would deter them.” The arrest of Abu Dardaa and the re-arrest of Kabiru Sokoto is just the will of God,” he said.

Apparently worried that the security agents had effectively used the Global Positioning tracking System, GPS, to track their members, he threatened that their next target would be to attack GSM firms and Nigeria Communication Commission, NCC, offices for their alleged role in the arrest of their members. The sect accused the service providers and the NCC of collaborating with security agencies to arrest their members. The new spokesman of the sect equally debunked information from Qaqa’s interrogators that he confessed that the sect handpicked its members to carry out suicide missions by force. “How can you force somebody who will gladly wave at his people with a smile before embarking on a suicide mission?,”  he asked.

However, from all indications, the security agencies appear more determined than ever to crush Boko Haram.  But some Nigerians believe that the information so far received by the SSS from Qaqa and Kabiru Sokoto would be effectively utilised to the advantage of the security agencies if the federal government demonstrated the political will to unmask the alleged sponsors of the sect and bring them to book.

For instance, the Trade Union Congress, TUC, last week demanded that the names of politicians, bank chiefs and traditional rulers who were said to have been on the call logs of Kabir Sokoto, be made public. The TUC said such personalities, if found culpable, should be prosecuted. In a statement signed by Peter Esele and John Kolawale, president and secretary general of the union respectively, they congratulated the SSS for the re-arrest of Kabiru Sokoto but cautioned that failure to be open with the investigation could be disastrous: “We congratulate the Nigerian security apparatchik and especially the State Security Services, SSS, for this very rare feat. It does show that even with the present parlous state of the nation’s security system, heights could be attained when there is commitment and determination on the part of all, especially the field operatives. We, however, do not want the Security heads to see this as an end in itself but an opportunity to dig deeper into the activities of the Boko Haram sect exposing and unraveling its operational dynamics, field tactics, operatives and their local and international connections including collaborators in the government. This would assist the nation’s quest to eradicate the violent and murderous activities of the Boko Haram sect and returning the nation to the path to peace.”

The labour leaders also demanded the release of the names of Boko Haram’s collaborators. If the speculation that is already in the public domain is true that the Log of Mallam Sokoto’s calls shows serious connections with some politicians in and out of government, we demand that these names be immediately made public and these characters be brought to book and if found culpable in the activities of Boko Haram be made to face prosecution within the ambits of the Law and Human rights.”

But Frank Odita, a retired commissioner of police told Newswatch that the security agencies “may have their reasons for being quiet or not naming anybody, because you don’t just name anybody if you are not satisfied that you have enough evidence on ground.”  He explained that it would be foolish of an investigative officer to just come out to mention the names of people given to him as sponsors of the sect without first putting a ring around them. “I believe that as good detectives, they are holding close to their chests the kind of information that they think they have and they are yet to carry out a total establishment of such information that will concretise their making arrests and eventual prosecution,” he said.

Odita believes that with the arrest of Qaqa and re-arrest of Kabiru Sokoto, Nigerians would likely witness the beginning of the end of Boko Haram.  “God, in His infinite mercy made it possible for the activities of government to be rewarded by the arrest of the kingpins as it were, and revelations are beginning to come out. I want to believe that it is the will of God that we are virtually coming to the end of the whole exercise because like the Bible says; if God is not watching, the watchman watched in vain. So,we believe that the prayer of Nigerians is being answered by God and that is why it is possible for these faceless individuals to now find that we are at the dawn of the end of the exercise, because with  the exposure that will come out of it, it is possible that the fellows whom we thought  were faceless can now be known, “ Odita told Newswatch.

 Boko Haram was founded by Yusuf, its self-acclaimed leader in 2002, in the city of Maiduguri with the aim of establishing a Shari’a government in Northern Nigeria. He established a religious complex that included a mosque and a school where many poor families from across Nigeria and from neighbouring countries enrolled their children. The centre had ulterior political goals and soon it was also working as a recruiting ground for future jihadists to fight the state. The group includes members who come from neighbouring Chad and Niger.

After the killing of Yusuf in police custody on July 30, 2009, the sect carried out its first terrorist attack in Borno State, in January 2010, under Shekau, its current leader. It resulted in the killing of four people. Since then, the violence has escalated both in frequency and intensity.

Before the latest crackdown on the sect, Azazi, has been working with other African governments, European and Middle Eastern governments, and the US government to build co-operation against Boko Haram. In 2010, he met with Leon Panetta, then-CIA director and in 2011, with General Carter F. Ham, commander, US Africa Command, AFRICOM, and other US officials, and was in the United States when the congressional panel was preparing its report on Boko Haram. He participated in a CIA conference at about the same time. After the 2011 Christmas Day bombings carried out by Boko Haram which led to the killing of 48 persons, President Barack Obama’s office issued a statement that confirmed that the U.S. and Nigeria were co-operating at a senior level against the terrorist group. Will the renewed vigour of the security agents to confront the terrorist group head on lead to the beginning of the end of Boko Haram? Only time will tell.

Reported by Haruna Salami, Ishaya Ibrahim and Elaigwu Sule