Troops arrest top Boko Haram suspect

A man suspected to be Chindo Bello, one of the wanted suspects, was arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe worldwide Airport, Abuja on Sunday.

It stated that Wardifen clearly resembled the suspect on serial number 22 on the wanted terrorists’ list released by the army last month.

According to the army, the suspect, Ishaku Wardifen was apprehended by troops in the morning (Monday) at a checkpoint in Maiha town in north-eastern Adamawa State.

Chad was instrumental in forcing Boko Haram to cede territory earlier this year, undermining its six-year campaign to carve out a Nigerian caliphate.

Usman said the suspect has since been handed over to the military intelligence for interrogation and prosecution.

Boko Haram is suspected of participation in three Nigerian refugees and the killing of at least two individuals in a hamlet in Chad.

He said Boko Haram enjoyed the complicity of a few inhabitants of the Lake Chad region, which borders Nigeria, where Boko Haram is based.

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has made a multinational force of 8,700 central to his strategy in tackling the crisis. While the extremist group has been attacking neighboring countries the recently announced arrests are the first suggesting a Boko Haram threat in Senegal, a mostly moderate Muslim nation.

Chadian authorities have declared a state of emergency in the Lake Chadregion Monday following Boko Haram repeated attacks in the area, Hassan Syla Bakary, government spokesperson said.

The Boko Haram militancy began in 2009, when the terrorist group started an armed rebellion against the government.