Arrest female Boko Haram ‘paymaster’
By Baba Yusuf
Abuja
A Boko Haram intelligence cell headed by a businessman, Babuji Ya’ari, who participated actively in the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls, has been busted by soldiers, the Defence Headquarters said yesterday.
It said Ya’ari, a member of the Youth Vigilance Group, popularly known as Civilian JTF, allegedly used it as cover while remaining an active terrorist, also spearheaded the murder of the Emir of Gwoza.
Defence Headquarters said his main role in the group was to spy and gather information for the militant group.
In a statement, the Director of Defence Information, Major-General Chris Olukolade, added that Babuji had been coordinating several deadly attacks in Maiduguri since 2011, including the daring attacks on Customs and military locations as well as the planting of IEDs in several locations in the town.
The statement said: “The arrest of the businessman, who is known to deal in tricycles, has also yielded some vital information and facilitated the arrest of other members of the terrorists’ intelligence cell who are women. One of them, Hafsat Bako, had earlier escaped to Gombe state to avoid suspicion, but was tracked and arrested.
“Prior to her arrest, Hafsat coordinated the payment of other operatives on the payroll of the group.
“In her confession, she disclosed that a minimum of N10, 000 is paid to each operative, depending on the enormity of his task.”
Olukolade added: “Another female suspect, Haj Kaka, who doubles as an armourer and a spy for the terrorist group, has also been arrested.
“Until their arrests, all the suspects actively operated a terrorists’ intelligence cell in collaboration with others still at large.”
According to him, troops deployed in Goniri, Yobe state, over the weekend, had an encounter with insurgents, resulting in casualties on both sides after the attack was successfully repelled.
