NIGERIA: Department of Defence says a "terror kingpin" on a government wanted list has been identified among more than 400 people arrested on suspicion of being members of the Islamist rebel group Boko Haram
Record ID:
236801
NIGERIA: Department of Defence says a "terror kingpin" on a government wanted list has been identified among more than 400 people arrested on suspicion of being members of the Islamist rebel group Boko Haram
- Title: NIGERIA: Department of Defence says a "terror kingpin" on a government wanted list has been identified among more than 400 people arrested on suspicion of being members of the Islamist rebel group Boko Haram
- Date: 18th June 2014
- Summary: ABUJA, NIGERIA (JUNE 18, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS SITTING DOWN AT TABLE FOR NEWS CONFERENCE VARIOUS OF GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS SEATED (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR GENERAL, NATIONAL ORIENTATION AGENCY, MIKE OMERI, SAYING: "During the process of interrogation, one suspect who had been profiled since 2007 and had been on the wanted list of the department, on the watch list, who had been on the watch lists of the department of state services, was identified and apprehended." VARIOUS OF JOURNALISTS SEATED AND LISTENING DURING NEWS CONFERENCE GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS SEATED (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR GENERAL, NATIONAL ORIENTATION AGENCY, MIKE OMERI, SAYING: "Well, the attack which happened close to Crossfire cinema an adjacent area of Damaturu, I mean in Naimua area, left 10 persons dead and 30 others wounded and are being treated in hospital." GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL LOOKING ON NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS
- Embargoed: 3rd July 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Nigeria
- Country: Nigeria
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Defence / Military
- Reuters ID: LVAEBNAQZU2LI8C8TTTRAUYA633L
- Story Text: Nigeria's Department of Defence said in a statement on Tuesday (June 17), that a "terror kingpin" on a government wanted list has been identified among the 486 people arrested on suspicion of being members of the Islamist rebel group Boko Haram.
Nigerian security forces detained a convoy of nearly 500 suspects on Sunday (June 15) in south-eastern Nigeria, stoking fears militant Islamists are now targeting southern states.
Security agencies in the West African country are carrying out screening exercises to ascertain the status of the suspects in a view to identify those who pose a security risk to the nation.
"A terror kingpin in the list of wanted terrorists of security forces in Nigeria have been detected in the ongoing screening of the 486 suspects napped while travelling in over 33 Hiace Hummer buses at night along Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway last Sunday," the Department of Defence said in a statement released on Tuesday.
Addressing journalists in Nigeria's capital Abuja on Wednesday (June 18), Mike Omeri, the Director General of the National Orientation Agency, said the man had been on the watch list of the department of state services for seven years.
"During the process of interrogation, one suspect who had been profiled since 2007 and had been on the wanted list of the department, on the watch list, who had been on the watch lists of the department of state services, was identified and apprehended," he said.
Boko Haram has shown its growing reach in recent months by moving beyond its heartland in Nigeria's weakly governed north-east.
Attacks have continued almost daily in the northern part of the country.
At least 13 people including young children were killed on Tuesday (June 17) when a bomb tore through a venue in northeast Nigeria where fans had gathered to watch a World Cup soccer match.
Omeri put the death toll at 10.
"Well, the attack which happened close to Crossfire cinema, an adjacent area of Damaturu, I mean in Naimua area, left 10 persons dead and 30 others wounded and are being treated in hospital," said Omeri.
No one claimed responsibility for the blast, but Damaturu and the surrounding Yobe state are at the heart of a five-year-old insurgency by Islamist group Boko Haram. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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