The Senate today gave a detailed account of how Kabir Sokoto escaped from the custody of officers and men of the Nigeria Police.
Sokoto is believed to be the mastermind of the bombing of St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, Madalla, Niger State, in which over 40 persons died.
His escape led to the sacking of the former Inspector General of Police, Hafiz Ringim, and the retirement of the Commissioner of Police in charge of the Force Criminal Investigation Department, Zakari Biu.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Police Affairs, Senator Paulinus Nwagu, presented the report of the investigative committee set up by the Senate to probe the circumstances surrounding the escape of Sokot from the custody of the police.
Nwagu told the Senate: “Police intelligence revealed that prior to his arrest on January 14, 2011, Kabiru Sokoto had been in the check list of Boko Haram sects’ members.
“Sokoto was reported to have been noticed within the vicinity of Snake Island, Lagos and left Lagos sometime on December 13, 2011 and disappeared from surveillance monitoring until January 11, 2012. He was later traced to Abaji in the Federal Capital Territory.
“Police detectives traced him from Abaji to Abuja on the same date and further traced him to Asokoro-Abuja where he was finally apprehended at about 0240 hours (2.40am) on January 14, 2012 at the Borno State Governor’s lodge at Iro Dan Musa Street, Asokoro, Abuja.
“The arrest was conducted by a combined team of police officers and men comprising operatives from the Force Analytical Tracking and Intelligence Centre as well as Combat Teams from the Police Mobile Force totaling 58 officers and men.
“The suspect was subsequently handed over to the Commissioner of Police Zakari Biu, who was in charge of handling terrorist cases, in charge of suspects and general follow-up, for further investigation.
“Investigation activities of the police led detectives comprising five officers to visit the residence of the suspect in Abaji to conduct a search on January 15, 2012.
“On arrival at the residence of the suspect at Bulletin Quarters, Abaji, the team met one Adamu Salihu, the son of the Onah of Abaji, the traditional ruler of Abaji in the FCT who was a neighbour of the suspect.
“ Salihu, who was later discovered to be a close associate of Kabiru Sokoto as well as a suspected member of Boko Haram, suddenly went into his room, came out with a copy of the Holy Quran, cited Quranic quotes and with a loud shout of “Allahu- Akbar (God is Great)”, mobilised nearby youths who attacked the police with hard objects and forcefully took over the suspect whom they whisked away to an undisclosed location.
“Immediate efforts to recover the suspect indicated that the duo of one Jibrin Aliyu alias Kaska and one Abdullahi Sidi alias Bamanga had informed one Mohammed Gambo that the principal suspect was with Jibrin Aliyu.”