By; RAYMOND TEDUNJAYE, Lagos.
No fewer than six suspected members of the dreaded Boko Haram sect were arrested weekend, in Lagos by local security operatives.
The suspects, identified as Ibrahim Ali, Abubakar Ahmed, Babagana Blam Ali, Goigoi Kamsalem, Ibrahim Mohammed and Adams, were said to have been arrested in three different locations in the state.
They were said to have fled from Bama, Baga and Konduga local government council areas of Borno state, following the heat of military operatives on the insurgents in the North-East region of the country.
Head of the local vigilante group, the Mai- Kanuribe of Lagos and Seriki Hausawa of Ijora Kingdom, Alhaji Mustapha Mohammed, while addressing journalists on the arrest, said five out of the suspects were nabbed on Friday at Isheri- Ojudu Berger and Victoria Island areas and the six suspect nabbed the previous week in a container behind a church at Festac area of the state.
He hinted that Ibrahim Ali and Babagana Blam Ali, who hail from Bama and Konduga local government areas respectively were arrested at Isheri- Ojodu Berger, while Goigoi Kamsalem, Ibrahim Mohammed both from Bama and Abubakar Ahmed of Baga council areas were apprehended at Victoria Island in their hideouts.
Adding that the suspects are now on their way to Maiduguri to be handed over to troops for further investigations, Mustapha said his group is determined to protect Lagos from the carnage of the Boko Haram sect.
Mustapha, who hails from Borno state, pointed out that Lagos is home to many nationalities, adding that he has invested and contributed to the development of the state since 1970 when he arrived the state.
The security expert disclosed that his group, with presence in 57 local government areas of Lagos and Ogun state, had commenced operation in Lagos since 2011, adding that the sect would have succeeded in bombing some strategic installations and edifice in the state, safe for its efforts.
Vowing that he has resolved not to allow the sect cause havoc in the state, Mustapha hinted that several suspects arrested in the past by his group were either handed over to the Director of State Security Service (SSS), Shangisha, Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Zone 2, Commissioner of Police in the State, while some were transfered to Maiduguri for further investigation and prosecution.
On how the suspects were recognised to be members of the sect, the traditional leader informed that their arrest is usually base on intelligence report gathered by operatives who are scattered across the state.
“You know we are from Borno State where these people also hail from and we know their communities. Our people back home do monitor them, and once they leave Maiduguri, we would be alerted so that we can be on the look out.
Once they arrive any community in Lagos, our members are always on ground to fish them out base on intelligence report and once they are arrested, we hand them over to security agencies for further investigation and prosecution”, the traditional head of the Kanuris in Lagos explained.
In recognition of his activities, Mustapha informed that a Peugeot patrol vehicle was donated to him by the state Director of SSS to aid his operation.
Informing that he has been personally financing the activities of the group, the traditional leader appealed to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode for logistic support to enhance the activities of the group in protecting Lagos from Boko Haram insurgence.
Efforts to get the comment of the Police Public Relations Officer of Dolapo Badmos proved abortive as she failed to pick her calls as at the time of filing this report.
