The Nigerian military says it is yet to confirm the speculation of the arrest of a Boko Haram king pin, popularly known as Bashir Sarkin Yanka, which in Hausa means: Bashir the King of Slaughter.
The spokesperson of Operation Lafiya Dole in the North East, Air Commodore Dele Alonge, said the military cannot confirm the arrest of the man believed to act on behalf of a one-time leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau.
This was even as the military has sustained its counter-insurgency operations where some terrorists have been eliminated and others apprehended in the North East.
Alonge said: “As you are aware, the Nigerian military has succeeded in routing out terrorists from some of their hideouts in the North-East and in the process some were eliminated and others have been arrested. We cannot at the moment provide the identities of those in our custody or in other places until after we have conducted thorough investigations.”
The local security volunteer group, the Civilian JTF, in Konduga Local Government Area of Borno State claimed that it arrested Bashir, who had been acting as Abubakar Shekau in some videos on the social media.
The arrested suspect was reported to have confessed to the Civilian JTF that he had acted as Shekau in some videos and was responsible for the death of his (Bashir’s) mother, two sisters and brother apart from engaging in mass slaughter.
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