Army confirms capture of Boko Haram commander in Ondo
The military authorities have confirmed that the Boko haram suspect arrested by at Isua Akoko in Ondo state was a high-value target.
The Director of Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Sani Kukasheka, made the confirmation in a statement in Maiduguri.
The Ondo state police image maker, SP Femi Joseph had earlier told newsmen that the suspect, Ibrahim Idris Babawo from Bauchi state was a stranded traveller enroute Ogun state, his place of work.
He was apprehended by members of the local vigilante corps led by Daniel Eyinju and subsequently handed over to the police for interrogation.
The Army spokesman, Kukasheka said the suspect Idris Ibrahim Babawo, a top Boko Haram commander, is identified as number 156 in the Boko Haram wanted list.
Babawo, 42, who also goes by the name Idoko or Nagada, was captured while trying to evade arrest.
Kukasheka said that the jihadist had since been handed over to the military.
"The Ondo State Command of the Nigeria Police on Sept. 24 at about 2: 00 p.m., arrested a wanted Boko Haram terrorist, Idris Ibrahim Babawo, believed to be number 156 on the wanted Boko Haram terrorists list.
"He was handed over to the 32 Brigade, 2 Division, Nigerian Army at about 2:00 p.m. on Sept. 25 by the Ondo State Police Command."
Kukasheka said that preliminary investigations showed that the terrorist hailed from Chinade village in the Katagum Local Government Area of Bauchi State.
He said that Babawo escaped from the North-East because of what he described as sustained military onslaught on the jihadists.
