Police capture Boko Haram suspect in Ondo

The Ondo State Police Command on Tuesday confirmed arresting a suspected member of the Boko Haram group, Idris Ibrahim Babawo, in the state.

Confirming the development, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Femi Joseph, disclosed that the suspect was arrested in Isua Akoko in Akoko southeast local government area of the state.

According to the PPRO, Babawo who was traveling from Bauchi State to Ibafo in Ogun State, was arrested after the trailer he was travelling with developed fault at Isua Akoko.

He said men of the Nigerian police from the command who suspected his movement queried and interrogated him but could not give satisfactory explanation about his movement and was subsequently apprehended.

He, however, said Babawo was handed over to the military authorities for interrogation where it was discovered that the suspect had been on the wanted list as one of the high-value target in the Boko Haram war.

However, the development was confirmed in a Press statement issued by the Director of Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Sani Kukasheka, in Maiduguri.

According to the spokesman, 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 and said “the Ondo State Command of the Nigeria Police on September, 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.