Another one for Nigeria: A Boko Haram leader captured; 70 insurgents killed by military

The Nigerian military has been recording a string of
victories recently against the deadly Boko Haram
sect in response to the recent upsurge in the
activities of the group.
On Thursday evening, a top leader of the sect was
captured by soldiers, and about 70 insurgents
were killed by at the sect's stronghold in Gwoza
Hills, Borno State.
The leader was arrested on Thursday evening
while he was trying to flee the bombarded Gwoza
Hills with some black Toyota Land Cruiser sports
utility vehicle in his escort.
It was learnt that the Special Forces captured him
alive and flew him immediately out of Borno State
to Abuja for interrogation in one of the military
formations in Abuja.
A source, who confided in our correspondent, said
that the arrest of the man suspected to be one of
the top most commanders of the sect (if not the
leader), had triggered anxiety among security
agents in Borno State.
Security officials were of the view that the
captured Boko Haram leader might be a very key
person to the operation of the sect for him to have
such a massive and luxurious escort
comprising Toyota Land Cruiser vehicles.
The source said, "On Thursday, soldiers arrested a
top member of the Boko Haram around the Gwoza
Hills after the battle of Wednesday night when
troop took over the hills.
"The Boko Haram member must be a very high
ranking member of the group if not the head
because he had several Toyota Land Cruiser jeeps
in his escort when he was captured.
"Another thing is that they didn't want anybody to
know his identity; the commanders immediately
flew the man to Abuja; as we are talking, the man
is being interrogated there. A highly placed
security source confirmed the arrest of the Boko
Haram leader but would not make any further
comment on the issue.
Investigations further revealed that troops killed
over 70 insurgents at Bita community in Gwoza
Local Government Area of Borno State and Bama
headquarters of Bama Local Government Area of
Borno State.
The insurgents were said to have been killed in
two different gun duels with troops at Bita and
Bama where Armoured Personnel Carriers and
military tanks were fully deployed for the combat
on Thursday.
Investigation revealed that the soldiers attacked
the insurgents when they were moving to launch
an attack on Bita community a day after troops
overran their Gwoza Hills enclave on Wednesday.
The source said that some soldiers sustained
gunshot wounds and were being treated at a
hospital in Maiduguri. It was learnt that some other
insurgents were killed also on Thursday evening on
their way to Bama after the first encounter which
resulted in the killing of over 40 members of the
sect.
It was gathered that the special forces waited for
the convoy of the insurgents on their way to Bama
when an intelligence report was received that they
(the insurgents) were on their way to launch
another attack in Bama.
A security source said that the insurgents were
moving in 15 trucks loaded with fighters when they
ran into the ambush of the troops.
The source said that the troops destroyed seven of
the trucks which caught fire and killed about 30 of
the insurgents."
However, it was stated that the insurgents
escaped with eight of the vehicles in the convoy.
When our correspondent contacted the Director of
Defence Information, Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade, he
confirmed the deployment of APCs and military
tanks but asked to be given more time to confirm
the capture of the Boko Haram commander and
those killed in the two battles.
"That APCs and military tanks were deployed is no
news but you have to give me some time to
confirm this story from the relevant places," he
said.
However, Olukolade said that the troops arrested a
middle-aged Cameroonian who served as the
arms courier for the sect.
He said that the arrest of the Cameroonian led to
the discovery of a large cache of arms and
ammunition which was hidden in the premises of a
burnt church.
Olukolade said that weapons recovered from the
insurgents in the premises of the church in
Kalabalge Local Government Area of Borno State
included anti-aircraft guns, rocket-propelled guns,
other brands of machine guns and thousands of
various calibres of rounds of ammunition.
He said that the Cameroonian led troops on a
cordon and search operation to a hideout where a
terrorist was captured. He was silent on the rank
of this particular terrorist whose singular arrest
featured in his news statement.
Simpa Saint Samsons
Indipendent film-maker