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Director,
Defence Information, Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade
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The military on Wednesday announced that troops at a
checkpoint in Gombe State had arrested the mastermind of the bombing in the
Sabon-Gari Local Government Area secretariat, Zaria, Kaduna State, in which 40
persons died.
The Nigeria Union of
Teachers (NUT) said 37 teachers perished in the Tuesday’s explosion while many
others, who sustained grievous injuries in the bombing, were in critical
conditions in various health centres in the state.
The Military said in a
tweet on its official twitter handle on Wednesday that the mastermind of the
Jos and Zaria attacks had been arrested by a combined team of troops and
operatives of the DSS at a military checkpoint in Gombe State.
“Following an operation by a combined team of
military and DSS operatives, troops have arrested a mastermind of the Jos and
Zaria bombings at a checkpoint in Gombe.” the tweet read.
The Punch report continues:
The military is however
silent on the identity of the suspected mastermind of the bombings.
The
Punch learnt
that the security operatives had trailed the Boko Haram suspect to the military
checkpoint in Gombe, where he was eventually picked up.
Two other suspected
members of the sect were also said to have been arrested alongside the
mastermind.
A security official, who
spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that the troops shot one of the two
suspects in the company of the suspected planner of the bomb explosions when he
attempted to escape troops.
The suspects were said to
be in custody as of the time of this story.
“He was not the only
person arrested. He was taken into custody with two other persons in his
company.
“They were trailed by a
combined team of security operatives, comprising soldiers and operatives of the
DSS, to the checkpoint in Gombe where they were arrested.
“One of them was shot
when he tried to escape while being arrested at the checkpoint.”
The Director, Defence
Information, Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade, confirmed the arrest of the suspected
mastermind to one of our correspondents on the telephone on Wednesday.
“It is true that the
suspect of the Jos and the Zaria bomb attacks have been arrested at a military
checkpoint in Gombe” Olukolade said.
He however declined
further comments on the operations that led to the arrest of the three terror
suspects.
The President of NUT, Mr.
Micheal Olukoya, at a programme commemorating NUT Founder’s Day in Abuja, gave
the number of teachers that perished in the explosion at the Sabon-Gari Local
Government secretariat at a time civil servants were undergoing biometric
verification at the venue.
“272 teachers have lost
their lives to the atrocious activities of the Boko Haram sect in Borno State
alone, over 19,000 teachers have been displaced in the North-East since
insurgencies broke out in the country,” Olukoya added.
The NUT president raised
the alarm that the war against insurgency in the country needed to be firmed
up, saying that daily attacks by the sect indicated that the insurgents were
still waxing strong.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria
Labour Congress has expressed alarm at the increasing spate of mindless
killings by the Boko Haram sect in Zaria, Jos, Kano and Potiskum, among other
cities in the North.
The General Secretary of
the NLC, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson, said in an electronic mail on Wednesday that the
frequency of occurrence of the bombings only indicated that Boko Haram had
regrouped and would continue to wreak havoc on soft targets.
He said, “We are appalled
by the senseless massacre of innocent workers (by suicide bombers) who had
gathered for screening at the local government secretariat in Zaria. It defies
comprehension.
“A few days earlier, we
had had similar fatal explosions in Kano, Jos, and Potiskum. We had also
recorded wholesome invasions and massacres in some border communities in Borno
and Yobe states.
“We condemn in very
strong terms this renewed coordinated violence against innocent and law-abiding
citizens who are just beginning to put together what was left of their lives.
“The frequency and ease
with which these incidents happened seem to suggest that Boko Haram has
regrouped and will continue to pick on soft targets.”
Also, the United Nations
Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, has strongly condemned latest attacks by the
Boko Haram insurgents in Nigeria, Niger and Chad.
In a statement late
Tuesday, Ban also denounced what he called the deliberate targeting of
Christian and Muslim worshippers during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in
Borno and Yobe states.
“The Secretary-General
takes note of President Muhammadu Buhari’s determination to root out this
menace, and commends the countries of the Lake Chad Basin Commission and Benin
for their steadfast efforts in the fight against Boko Haram,” the statement
said.
Recent extremist violence
against both Muslims and Christians left 44 people dead in Zaria, Kaduna State
on Tuesday.
In his statement, the UN
boss extended his heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims.
“The Secretary-General
renews his calls to support the operationalization of the Multi-National Joint
Task Force through the provision of the requisite political, logistical and financial
resources and necessary expertise, consistent with international humanitarian,
human rights and refugee law,” it said.
The Sultan of Sokoto and
President-General of the Jama’atul Nasril Islam, Alhaji Abubakar Sa’ad III,
also condemned the renewed terrorists’ attacks in Borno, Yobe, Kaduna and Kano
states.
The Sultan, in a
statement by the Secretary-General of the JNI, Dr. Aliyu Khalid, in Kaduna on
Wednesday, condemned the attack.
“We, however, use this
medium to once again condemn in the strongest terms the recent attack unleashed
on innocent civil servants undergoing screening at the Sabon Gari Local
Government Area secretariat, Zariam, in Kaduna State,” the Sultan said.
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