The Department of State Security (DSS) has unveiled the arrested deputy
commander of the Boko Haram terror group, describing the arrest in Lokoja
two two Fridays ago, a milestone in the battle against terrorism.
The DSS in a statement said Mohammed Usman, also known as Khalid
Al-Barnawi, 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 break-away faction,
Jama’at Ansarul Muslimim Fi Biladi Sudan (JAMBS).
Tony Opuiyo, the DSS spokesman said Al-Barnawi used to move around under
various aliases such as Kafuri, Naziru, Alhaji Yahaya, Mallam Dauda and
Alhaji Tanimu.
The statement reads:
This Service wish to inform the general public that further to its efforts
to stem the tide of terrorism in the Country, it has recorded another
major breakthrough in the arrest of one Mohammed USMAN, widely known as
Khalid AL-BARNAWI, alias KAFURI/ NAZIRU/ ALHAJI YAHAYA/MALLAM DAUDA/ALHAJI
TANIMU
2. Khalid AL-BARNAWI was apprehended by this Service on 1st April, 2016,
in Lokoja, Kogi State, while hiding under a false cover. AL-BARNAWI 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 break-away faction, Jama’at Ansarul
Muslimim Fi Biladi Sudan (JAMBS).
3. Khalid AL-BARNAWI 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.
4. Subject 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. ALBARNAWI is also responsible for the bombing of
the United Nations building in Abuja, on 26th August, 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.
5. Meanwhile, subject would soon be charged to Court to face his charges
after investigation is completed.
6. This arrest is a major milestone in the counter-terrorism fight of this
Service. This arrest has strengthened the Service’s resolve that no matter
how long and far perpetrators of crime and their sponsors may run, this
Service in collaboration with other sister security agencies, will bring
them to justice.
7. In another development, the Service has uncovered the heinous role
played by members of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), in the
abduction/kidnap of five Hausa-Fulani residents, namely Mohammed GAINAKO,
Ibrahim MOHAMMED, Idris YAKUBU, and Isa Mohammed RAGO at Isuikwuato LGA in
Abia State.
8. The abducted men were later discovered at the Umuanyi forest, Abia
State, where they were suspected to have been killed by their abductors
and buried in shallow graves, amidst fifty (50) other shallow graves of
unidentified persons. Arrest and investigation conducted so far, revealed
that elements within the IPOB, carried out this dastardly action.
9. It is pertinent therefore to alert the general public that IPOB, is
gradually showing its true divisive colour and objectives, while steadily
embarking on gruesome actions in a bid to ignite ethnic terrorism and
mistrust amongst non-indigenes in the South-East region and other parts of
the country. Following this act, tension is currently rife among communal
stakeholders in the State with possibilities of spillover to other parts
of country.
10. Against the foregoing, the Service will not hesitate to act decisively
within its statutory mandate to ensure that the sponsors and perpetrators
of this action are apprehended and prosecuted for their crime.
Accordingly, law-abiding citizens are enjoined to go about their civil
duties and businesses freely, as efforts are being intensified by security
agencies to maintain law and order in the State and across the Federation.
THANK YOU,
Tony OPUIYO
DSS, Abuja.
9th April, 2016