Controversy has trailed the alleged arrest of a suspected kingpin of the militant Boko Haram lslamist sect said to be responsible for the Christmas Day bombing of St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, Madalla, Niger State, Saturday in Abuja.
A section of the media had reported that the suspect, identified as Mallam Kabir Sokoto, was arrested by the police while hiding in the Borno Governor’s Lodge in Abuja.
However, LEADERSHIP’s checks revealed that the suspect might have been arrested in a joint agency operation in Abaji, a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
A top police officer, who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity, said the suspects was tracked down by an undisclosed sister agency believed to be the State Security Service (SSS), but was arrested in a joint agency operation.
According to him, Malam Sokoto was handed over to the said agency and investigation was ongoing to arrest other members of the sect involved in the bombing.
He argued that it was not the place of the police to speak on the arrest or ongoing investigation, and pointed out that the agency would at the appropriate time speak on the arrest as well as charge the suspect and his accomplices to court.
The Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Oluyemi Ajayi, Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) and his FCT counterpart, Mr. Jimoh Moshood, would not confirm the operation or the arrest as they claimed not to be aware of the operation or the arrest. Similarly, FCT Director of SSS, Mr. John Okogie, claimed to be unaware of the arrest.
Effort to reach the SSS spokesperson, Marilyn Ogar, was futile as she did not pick her calls nor respond to text. message on the issue.
Sokoto, who was reportedly arrested alongside a serving military personnel, was said to have been tracked down in the nation’s capital after several weeks of investigation.
The suspect was said to have travelled from Maiduguri to Abuja, and was on his way to London but was allegedly staying at the Borno State Governor’s Lodge where he was reportedly arrested.
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