Army arrests Alhaji Ari-Dafinoma, Boko Haram preacher

Nigerian army troop’s of Operation Hadin Kai have arrested Alhaji Ari-Difinoma, a prominent radical preacher and leader of the Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihād (JAS), Boko Haram terrorists group.

Sources said Ari-Difinoma, surrendered to troop’s 21 Special Armoured Brigade Bama on Sunday, May 16, 2022.

Ari-Difinoma was said to have been forced out of his hideout following sustained artillery bombardment by troops of Operation Hadin Kai on the enclave where he and scores of Boko Haram members were hibernating

According to a source one other factor that compelled him to surrender to troops was the bloody infighting between the Boko Haram and its rival faction, the Islamic State of the West African Province (ISWAP).

This was confirmed by Zagazola Makama Counter Insurgency Expert and Security Analyst in the Lake Chad Zagazola Makama who added that the ISWAP launched a surprise attack against the Boko Haram at Ukuba, a camp of the Radical Preacher that had been repeatedly destroyed by the Nigerian troops but reoccupied by the terrorists.

The attack forced the Boko Haram terrorists to flee. Consequently, Ari-Difinoma and others ran to hide in a small village located in the Community of Mantari, within the axis of Bama Local Government but were forced out of their hideout by hunger and unending Artillery shillings by the Nigerian troops.

“It was at that point that Mr Ari-Difinoma decided to abandon the rest of Hispanic colleagues and ran out to surrender himself.”

It would be recalled that Alhaji Ari-Difinoma, who is an Indigene of Monguno in Borno state, ran one of the Boko Haram Radicalisation schools in Ukuba Camp in Sambisa forest under the Darul-Qur’an.

The source said he has recruited many children and youths through teaching of extremists’ ideologies within the past 10 years.

His surrender comes after more than 52,000 members of Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists comprising of fighters, those conscripted by force, and their families, had so far surrendered to the troops.