• 5 insurgents arrested in Kano, 3 killed in Borno,
others surrender to troops

From Desmond Mgboh, Kano and Molly Kilete, Abuja

The Giyawa axis of Ungogo Local Government Area of Kano State was, in the early hours of yesterday, turned to a battlefield when Boko Haram fighters engaged the police in a fierce gunfight.
When the dust settled, the police arrested five insurgents, made up of three male and two females. Among the insurgents was a former Nigerian Air Force personnel.
Disclosing this in a press conference, Kano State Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Rabiu Yusuf, named the Boko Haram suspects as Abba Mohammed, 20, from of Niger Republic; Usman Buhari, and Illysu Abdullahi, 46. The two females were Aihsa Yau, 25, and Ladidi Yanusa, 27.
Yusuf, who revealed that three policemen sustained injuries in the duel, said the suspects were arrested based on intelligence report, which indicated that some Boko Haram members, who fled Sambisa Forest, were regrouping in different parts of the North, including Kano State.
He explained that the Joint Police Special Team, comprising Special Tactical Force, Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Kano, the Force Intelligence Unit and other undercover units set up by the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, under the supervision of the commissioner of the Kano State Command, had been on the trail of the suspects for some time until yesterday’s arrest.
According to him, the security team intercepted the sect’s members moving to attack public centres, places of worship and other places where people gathered in large numbers, adding that all the suspects had since confessed to the crime.
The CP said: “The sustenance of this operation by Special Forces yielded positive result this morning (yesterday) when the team intercepted the remnant of the Boko Haram group while they were about to move to attack public centres, places of worship and other places where people gathered to carry out their means of livelihood.
“The police team came under attack of this remnant and they were repelled; in the process they were able to arrest five suspects, three male and two females. Three police operatives sustained injuries from the IEDs and gunshots launched on them by this terrorist group. They are currently receiving treatment in the hospital.
“All the suspects confessed to be active members of the Boko Haram group that was involved in the killing of innocent Nigerians in Kano and other north-eastern states. They equally volunteered confessional statement indicating the planned attack they were about to carry out in Kano and other north-eastern states.”
He said items recovered from the suspects included one AK-47 rifle, 49 rounds of ammunition, four magazines, IEDs, two sets of Air Force uniforms, four caps of the Nigerian Air Force, a laptop , one iPad and some pictures of the suspects in military uniforms, among others.
In a related development, soldiers in Maiduguri, Borno State, have killed three female suicide bombers.
The suspects were killed while trying to infiltrate soldiers’ location at Kawuri, Konduga Local Government Area of Kano State.
Director, Army Public Relations, Brigadier-General Sani Usman, who made this known in a statement, said the suicide bombers, who were given warning shots, declined to stop, adding: “Consequently, the troops neutralised them instantly. The remains of the suicide bombers have since been evacuated from the location.”
He called on the public to continue to support troops of “Operation Lafiya Dole” by giving useful information and reporting any suspicious movement.
Also, two teenagers and seven members of the Boko Haram terror group have surrendered to soldiers Buni Yari, Gujba Local Government Area of Yobe State.
The teenage terrorists, Ibrahim Matukur, 13, and Modu Wakil, 15, were said to have surrendered alongside Usman Mahamadu, 47, Goni Bukar, 50, Modu Konto, 20, and Isah Ali, 25, to troops of 27 Task Force Brigad, “Operation Lafiya Dole,” at Buni Yari, Gujba Local Government Area of Yobe State.
Brigadier-General Usman said the suspected terrorists, who confessed to belong to the Mamman Nur faction of the Boko Haram group, surrendered their arms, “having realised their folly and no longer wish to continue with the criminal terrorist and insurgent activities.”
He also said the suspects confessed to have escaped from the terrorists’ hideout at Buk village in Damboa Local Government Area of Borno State, and that there were many more Boko Haram fighters willing to surrender because of untold hardship they are undergoing.
Usman, said the terrorists, who are asking for forgiveness from members of the community, said they were misguided and deceived into believing that they were fighting a just cause.
Meanwhile, 43 Boko Haram insurgents who had earlier surrendered to troops have been air-lifted to join other repentant terrorists in Gombe, where they are to commence a de-radicalisation and rehabilitation programme.
Speaking while handing over the insurgents to “Operation Safe Corridor,” the theatre commander of “Operation Lafiya Dole,” Major-General Ibrahim Attahiru, gave assurance that the repentant insurgents would be given a new lease of life, as they commence their journey back into the civil society through the de-radicalisation and rehabilitation process.
He urged them to embrace and undertake the programme whole-heartedly, to enable them benefit and positively re-orient their views about life and the society in general.