A Boko Haram chief, identified only as Umar, has been arrested in Lagos. Umar was arrested by the Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team on Thursday.
A member of the team, who broke the news on Instagram, claimed that the suspect was the most wanted leader of the insurgents, adding that he was behind the Kuje and Nyanya bombings in Abuja in 2015.
“Umar is the most deadly and most wanted Boko Haram leader in Abuja, and the mastermind of the Kuje and Nyanya Abuja bombings of 2015, gang leader of Galadimawa Roundabout attack in which seven police officers were killed; Lugbe police officers killer; Gwagwalada area police killings, all in Abuja; overall commander of Edo and Ondo states multiple bank robberies, several killings in the Okene area of Kogi.
“He was the grand commander of the jailbreak of the prison in Niger State early this year, during which he lost one of his eyes, while over 100 prisoners escaped.
“The most wanted suspect was arrested by a special IRT team in Lagos today (Thursday) after he escaped with bullet wounds from Abuja three weeks ago when the IRT team arrested four of his gang members and recovered four AK-47 rifles and hundreds of ammunition. Today is one of the happiest moments of my life,” he wrote in the post.
The Force spokesperson, Jimoh Moshood, confirmed the arrest.
He said, “I am aware of some arrests made by the team. He is in police custody.”