UN building bomb blast mastermind arrested –DSS

THE Department of State Ser­vices has arrested a dreaded commander of Boko Haram, Mohammed Usman, who is believed to have masterminded several acts of terror in different parts of the country.

The DSS further disclosed that Usman, who is also known as Khalid Al-Barnawi, operates under different aliases, which include Kafuri, Naziru, Alhaji Yahaya, Mallam Dauda and Al­haji Tanimu.

Usman was arrested on April 1, 2016, in Lokoja, Kogi State where he was hiding under a false cover. His arrest is major breakthrough and milestone in the counter-terrorism fight of the Service as Usman was a found­ing member of the Jama’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid Da’wah Wa’l-Ji­had (Boko Haram) and later the Amir of the breakaway faction, Jama’at Ansarul Muslimim Fi Biladi Sudan (JAMBS).

In a statement signed by Tony Opuiyo, the DSS alleged that Usman is “a trained terrorist commander, who has been coor­dinating terrorist activities in Ni­geria, while talent-spotting and recruiting vulnerable young and able Nigerians for terrorist train­ing by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in North Afri­can states and the Middle-East.”

The statement further ex­plained that the suspect was in­volved in many terrorist attacks in states of the federation, in­cluding Bauchi, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Sokoto and FCT-Abuja. “This resulted in the killing and maiming of innocent citizens of this country. Al-Barnawi is also responsible for the bombing of the United Nations building in Abuja, on August 26, 2011; the kidnapping of two European civil engineers in Kebbi State in May, 2011, and their subsequent murder in Sokoto State; the kidnap of a German engineer, Edgar Rau­pach in January 2012, the kidnap and murder of seven expatriate staff of Setraco Construction Company at Jama’are, in Bau­chi State in February, 2013, the attack of Nigerian troops at Okene in Kogi State, while on transit to Abuja for an official as­signment,” the statement added. While reiterating the resolve of the DSS to bring perpetrators of terrorism and their sponsors to justice, working in collaboration with other sister security agen­cies, the Service said that the suspect would soon be charged to court to face charges, when investigation is completed.