A man the police described as a notorious Boko Haram Commander was yesterday arrested in Lagos.
The suspect, Abdulmalik Umar, was said to have been responsible for the death of more than 200 people.
Umar,
39, was arrested by operatives of the Inspector General of Police (IG)
Intelligence Response Team (IRT) around Mowe at a nurse’s house where he
was receiving treatment for the bullet wounds he sustained during a
recent gun battle with the police in Abuja.
It was gathered that
the suspect, alleged to have masterminded the explosions at Nyanya and
Kuje in Abuja in 2015, as well as several bank robberies in Ondo, Edo
and other southern states, had fled Abuja three weeks ago when some of
his gang members were apprehended.
A police source, who confirmed
the arrest, disclosed that the nurse, who is said to be Umar’s sister,
and her husband were also arrested for aiding and abetting criminality.
It
was gathered that the head of the IRT, Abba Kyari, a Deputy
Commissioner of Police (DCP), and his men had been trailing the one-eyed
Umar since he entered Lagos three weeks ago.
They eventually busted his hideout around 2pm yesterday.
The Nation gathered that the suspect led the gang that killed seven policemen at Gwagwalada, Abuja.
Their
AK47 rifles were carted away. He was also alleged to be behind the
killings of policemen at Lugbe and armed robbery at Galadimawa
Roundabout, among others.
The source described Umar as an overall
“commander” of bank robberies in the southern part of the country as
well as mastermind of killings in Okene, Kogi State.
The source
said: “He was also the one who brought all the bombs they used during
the Nyanya and Kuje attacks in 2015. We have arrrsted some of his
members who are in court now. They were the ones who gave us his details
and since then we have been looking for him.
“He has one eye and
is responsible for over 200 killings. We arrested four of his gang
members three weeks ago in Abuja and recovered four AK47 rifles which
they took from the policemen they killed at Gwagwalada.
“He
escaped at that operation with gun wounds and fled to Lagos. We have
been on his trail since then. He went to his sister’s house in Mowe to
hide. His sister was treating him of the bullet wounds. We have
arrested her and her husband too because they are accomplices.
“He
was the Grand Commander of the attack and rescue operations of the
Prison in Niger State early this year where he lost one of his eyes
during the operation while over 100 prisoners escaped.”
Confirming Umar’s arrest, police spokesman Jimoh Moshood, an acting Deputy Commissioner said he would soon be paraded.
Moshood
said: “It is true that he was arrested in Lagos. He fled Abuja with
gunshot injury and was trailed to Lagos. We arrested some of his gang
members three weeks ago and recovered weapons from them. They will be
paraded soon.”
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