KABIRU SOKOTO

SSS re-arrests Kabiru Sokoto inside wardrobe.

State Security Service officers on Friday re-arrested Kabiru Abubakar Dikko (aka Kabiru Sokoto), the suspected Boko Haram kingpin alleged to be the mastermind of the 2011 Christmas Day bombing of the St. Theresa’s Catholic Church in Madalla, Niger State.
Sokoto, who allegedly led the terror attack in which 43 worshippers died, was arrested at the residence of an accomplice, where he was hiding inside a clothes rack at Mutum-Biu, Gassol Local Government Area, Taraba State.
The Boko Haram operative, who was sporting a Puma-branded T-shirt over a pair of jeans, was paraded at the SSS Headquarters at a brief news conference in Abuja.
Sokoto had earlier escaped from police custody on January 15, 2011 at Abaji in the Federal Capital Territory, when he was being led to his home for a search of his apartment by a team of policemen on the orders of Zakari Biu, a commissioner of police.
The police had on Jan 19 declared him wanted and placed a N50m bounty on his head.
Sokoto’s escape from custody led to widespread criticism of the police hierarchy; Biu and five other junior policemen, who took Sokoto to Abaji are currently facing disciplinary probe over the incident.
Sokoto’s escape also led to the sack of the former Inspector-General of Police, Hafiz Ringim, and the Police Management Team comprising six Deputy Inspectors-General.
Briefing newsmen in Abuja, the Deputy Director, Media and Public Relations, SSS, Marilyn Ogar, explained that after his escape, the suspect had taken refuge at Umaisha in Toto LGA, Nasarawa State, before he fled to Taraba, where he was re-arrested.
Ogar didn’t allow the suspect to answer questions from journalists, insisting that investigations were still ongoing and Sokoto would not be allowed to disclose information that might jeopardise the operations of the service.
Giving background information about the suspect, Ogar said that Sokoto was born on May 9, 1983 to the family of Umaru Jabbi of Gagi village, Sokoto South LGA, Sokoto State.
Upon the death of his father, he was adopted by his paternal uncle, Abubakar Dikko and renamed after him. He completed his primary education at Model Primary School, Gagi town in 1996.
According to Ogar, the suspect enrolled for secondary education at the Ahmadu Bello Academy in 1996, but absconded shortly after and re-applied for admission as a fresh Junior Secondary School I pupil in Sultan Bello Secondary School, Sokoto South LGA, from where he passed out in 2003.
“In 2005, he gained admission into the College of Nursing and Midwifery, Sokoto, where he exhibited a high level of truancy and extremist tendencies, a situation which accounted for his poor academic performance. In mid-2007, he absconded again from the institution when he outright refused to re-sit some papers he failed in an examination,” she narrated.
The SSS spokesperson stated that Sokoto was instrumental to the visit of the late leader of Boko Haram, Mohammed Yusuf, to Gagi village in February 2009, during which he was declared the leader of the sect in Sokoto State.
Ogar re-assured Nigerians of the collective resolve of security forces to stamp out terrorism, adding that they were poised to end all the dastardly activities of terror groups in the country.
She sought the support and cooperation of Nigerians to rid the nation of terror plotters.
Also, a top intelligence officer hailed the re-arrest of Sokoto.
He attributed the success to the commitment of the security agencies, who had seemed helpless in the war against terrorism before now.
The officer explained that the exercise was made possible by the effective collaboration among security operatives and members of the public.
According to him, several Islamic organisations have condemned the group on the grounds that Islam did not teach anybody to kill. He stated that security gadgets and other GSM tracking equipment, which had been procured and put to work effectively, were crucial in re-arresting Sokoto.
The source added that many of the members of the sect in custody of the security agencies were monitored and arrested through their mobile telephone lines.
It was learnt that the Federal Government was taking delivery of other important security equipment.
The officer said, “Kabiru is in custody; more will soon join. The security agencies are working and it is now obvious. There is nothing more to add.”
Kabiru Sokoto’s gang members arrested
Security agencies have recorded a breakthrough in the manhunt for the mastermind of the December 2011 Christmas Day bombing of a Catholic Church in Madalla, Niger State, as 10 Boko Haram suspects have been arrested.
It was learnt in Abuja that the Nigerian Army arrested the suspects about one month after Kabiru Sokoto Umar, fingered as the mastermind of the act, escaped from police custody.
Forty-three worshippers and passersby were killed in the explosions, while many were injured.
The 10 suspects are said to be held in an unidentified military facility.
A Commissioner of Police, Mr. Zakari Biu, and five other policemen under whose watch the Boko Haram kingpin escaped, have since been detained and are undergoing interrogation in relation with the incident.
The controversial escape of the Boko Haram suspect led to the sack of the former Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Hafiz Ringim, and his replacement with Mohammed Abubakar.
The source confided in our correspondents that the arrested members were considered high in the hierarchy of the Islamic sect and had given useful information to their interrogators.
The source added that while some of the suspects had made vital confessional statements, others were still insisting that they were not members of the sect and had nothing to do with the activities of Boko Haram.
It was learnt that while some of the arrested sect members were picked up due to useful information provided by their colleagues, others were trailed and arrested with the aid of modern telecommunications equipment procured by the Federal Government to ensure an effective prosecution of the campaign against terrorism in the country.
The source said, “Nigerians are always blaming security agencies. Do you know that since that man escaped from the custody of the police, security agencies have arrested several of his colleagues?
“But Kabiru Sokoto was not the only suspect involved in the bombing of the Catholic Church in Madalla.
“Security agents have arrested 10 of those who participated in the act and they are undergoing interrogation and have volunteered useful information.
“Efforts are also being made to ensure that the volunteered information was effectively used to secure more arrests and ensure an early resolution of this issue.
“Apart from those who participated in the Madalla bombings, more arrests have been made.”
he Director of Army Public Relations, Maj.-Gen. Raphael Isah, reportedly said shortly after the foiled bomb explosion at the headquarters of the Division 1 of the Nigerian Army in Kaduna on Tuesday, that security agencies were intensifying efforts to ensure restoration of sanity to the society.
Isah reportedly confirmed that the attacks targeted at the heart of the Nigerian military in Kaduna were in response to the arrest of many key members of the sect by operatives of the Nigerian Army.
However, the Army Director of Information was silent on where and when the arrests were made by the army.
“Once more, we urge members of the public to continue with their normal business and lawful activities.
“We enjoin all to continue with their normal activities. We enjoin all to continue to partner with security agencies and provide valuable information that will help us to tackle the menace of these misguided Nigerians and any would-be mischief maker.
“We remain grateful to members of the public for all the information provided so far that has led to the arrest of key members of Boko Haram recently.
“We know that such attacks might not be unconnected with recent arrest of some of their key leaders. We are currently working on fresh information that will lead to the arrest of more sect members and their sponsors,” he had said.
n Thursday, the leadership of the security network in the country converged on the office of the National Security Adviser, Gen. Owoye Azazi, in Abuja, to brainstorm on the issue of insecurity in the country.
A highly-placed security source said the meeting was attended by the service chiefs, the heads of the Nigerian Intelligence Agency, the Inspector-General of Police, the director of the State Security Service and others.
he source said the main agenda of the meeting was “strategy and an emphasis on coordinated sharing of vital information in the campaign against terrorism.”
It was learnt that while the FG was exploring the option of dialogue to solve the raging crisis, security agencies are believed to be working assiduously with the information at their disposal to get to the top echelons of the sect.
The source added that apart from the fact that many of the members of the sect had become weary, they are dampened by the loss of their relatives in the Kano attacks.
It was learnt that the FG and the security high command in the country were wary of any negotiations with the sect because of its reported link with al-Qaeda in North Africa.
The source said, “As you are aware, the security chiefs are meeting today, and that is top on their agenda for the meeting. When you are dealing with a terrorist group that has a link with international players in terrorism, you must be very careful.
“Security chiefs are closing in on them, they are almost getting to their leadership.
“Many of them are tired and are already falling victims because of the attacks on Kano, where some of them lost close relatives,” the source said
Meanwhile, there are indications that the FG is in a fix over the issue of negotiations with the members of the Boko Haram.
An investigation showed that the decision of the FG to explore the peace option to resolve the raging Boko Haram insurrection in the country had been encumbered by a lot of factors.
Presidency source said on Friday that the government’s insistence on dialogue would not amount to much in the bid for a final solution to the Boko Haram issue.
The source said that the conditions given by the members of the sect that the President must first convert to Islam for the commencement of negotiations and the insistence that it wanted to Islamise Nigeria were glaring hindrances to negotiations with the sect.
It was learnt that the President, who called on Boko Haram members to make bold to identify themselves and state their grouse before negotiations, was wary of the position of the international community, especially foreign collaborators like the European Union, United States and others on the issue of holding talks with terrorists.
owever, a highly placed contact in a strategic security office in the country said on the condition of anonymity that the possibility of a dialogue was still very high, though mutual suspicion exists on either side.
The source said that the acting IG was determined to fight the scourge of terrorism in the country to a logical conclusion.
He said Abubakar, believed to have a vast network of connection in the society, was determined to disprove his critics that he did not have a hand in the killing of Christians in Jos or in any other part of the country.
It is believed that one way the IG could achieve the feat is by doing his job efficiently and effectively and making the expected contribution to the resolution of the Boko Haram crisis.