Boko Haram leader escapes military raid in Kaduna

A SUSPECTED leader of the Boko Haram insurgents on Wednesday night escaped a military raid on his hideout in the Ugwan Dosa area of Kaduna.

The Boko Haram leader, whose name was given as Mallam Muhammed Mai Borno, was said to be taken refuge in Kaduna after he was flushed out of Maiduguri in Borno State.

He was said to have escaped with his wife through an escape door, blocked with cartons but painted to look like a brick wall fence of the house.

The raid was said to have been a joint operation by soldiers, policemen and operatives of the Department of State Service.

Our correspondent learnt that the security operatives had mounted surveillance on the house, situated at No. 4 Fulani Road, Ugwan Dosa, Kaduna State, for several hours.

The building was said to have been leased out to the suspect, who was said to have moved into the premises with his wife late last year.

Already, the owner of the property had been arrested by security agencies for further interrogation.

Meanwhile, a resident of the area said the suspect had been discreet about his background and family members since he moved into the house last year.

“When we asked after his children, he said they were in school somewhere in the North-East and we discovered that he was always travelling and we never suspected any foul play until we started hearing gunshots in the night,”

the source said.

Another resident of the area, Usman Ahmed, said security operatives arrived the area around 12 midnight and cordoned off, followed by sporadic gunshots.

He said,

“I was woken up by the gunshots. Initially I thought it was a robbery attack and I called the leader of the vigilante group in the area who assured me that there was no cause for alarm.

“When the gunshots persisted I tried to call some of my neighbours that I can remember their phone numbers, it was then that one of them told me that he sighted security men from his window and that he believed the gunshots were from them. I became comfortable and told my family to go back to bed assuring them that all was well.”

The Public Relations Officer of the 1 Mechanised Division of the Nigerian Army in Kaduna, Col. Abdul Usman, said he had not been briefed by the operation officer. Usman promised to get back to our correspondent with the details of the operation but he did not call back as of the time of filing this report.