Peoples Daily

…as sect denies NTA video

By Julius Ogar with agency reports

Escaped suspected Boko Haram operative, Kabiru Umar (aka Kabiru Sokoto), was yesterday re-arrested by operatives of the State Security Service (SSS) working with other security agencies.
Kabiru is said to have been rounded up in a hut where he was hiding with his brother. The spokesperson for the SSS, Mrs Marilyn Ogar, told newsmen in Abuja on Friday that Kabiru Sokoto, was arrested at Mutum-Biyu in Gassol Local Government Area of Taraba at about 4.30 am.
Sokoto was being sought for allegedly masterminding the bombing of St Theresa’s Catholic Church, Madalla, Niger state on Christmas day, 2011. It was gathered thatofficers arrested Sokoto as he hid behind a clothesline at a home in the state.
Briefing newsmen on how he was re-arrested, Ogar said Sokoto had earlier taken refuge in Umaisha town in Toto Local Government Area of Nasarawa state before he fled to Taraba.
According to her, “Kabiru Sokoto was picked up from where he was hiding in a clothes rack at the residence of an accomplice. On his escape, he had taken refuge at Umaisha in Toto Local Government Area of  Nasarawa State before he fled to Taraba where he was eventually re-arrested,’’ she said.
Ogar did not name the accomplice or say whether they had the accomplice also in custody.
Giving details in Sokoto’s identity, Ogar said the 29-year-old suspect was born to the family of Umaru Jabbi of Gagi village in Sokoto South Local Government Area. She explained that upon the death of his father, the suspect’s uncle, Abubakar Dikko, adopted him and gave him his name.
Ogar further stated that the suspect, who completed his secondary education in 2003, was admitted to the College of Nursing and Midwifery, Sokoto, and described him as a “truant with extremist tendencies” before she  was declared a leader of the Boko Haram sect in Sokoto in February, 2009.
Reports as at yesterday, indicated that Sokoto had been flown back to Abuja, from where he had escaped from police custody in the first instance.
Police named Sokoto, an alleged member of the Boko Haram, as the prime suspect for the Dec. 25 bombing of St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla, which killed about 40 persons.
Sokoto's escape just a day after his arrest caused a national embarrassment and became part of the chain of events that led to the forced retirement of former Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji Hafiz Ringim.
Meanwhile the sect has continued to deny a video aired on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), purporting to be prepared for dialogue and naming four representatives with whom the government could negotiate.
A statement by the sect’s spokesman, Abul Qaqa, denied that the persons who had spoken in the video were members of the group or known by it.

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