Category: City Beats

A group, Northern Ethnic Youth Group Assembly (NEYGA), has praised the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, for finally confirming weeks of speculation on the capture of two most-wanted leaders of terrorist groups in Nigeria. 

The NSA had at a press conference Saturday in Abuja formally announced the capture of the leadership of the ANSARU terrorist organisation, otherwise known as Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina fi-Biladis Sudan, Nigeria’s Al-Qaeda affiliate, and the Mahmudawa terrorist group.

The terrorists’ leaders are Amir Mahmud Mohammed Usman, aka Abu Baraa, and the Deputy Amir Marmuda.

Recall that the media had for weeks been awash with reports on the capture of the terrorist group leaders by the DSS. The secret police failed to confirm or deny the speculation.

Last Tuesday, Niger State Governor, Hon. Mohammed Bago became the first government official to officially confirm the capture of the terrorist leaders.

He praised President Bola Tinubu for carrying out sweeping reforms in the military and security sectors, particularly, for appointing competent heads of military and security agencies. Governor Bago specifically commended the DSS for the capture of the two most-wanted terrorists. 

In a statement on Sunday in Abuja, the northern group expressed satisfaction with the NSA for publicly addressing a security issue they said had troubled most parts of Northern Nigeria. More significant, they said, was the NSA’s reference to the fact that it was an intelligence-led operation, which included weeks of surveillance , tracking and use of human assets, that led to the capture of the terrorists’ leaders. This, noted the group, lent credence to the statement by Governor Bago and reports quoting various other community sources that it was a covert operation by the DSS that resulted in the capture of the terror kingpins. 

The statement was signed by NEYGA spokesperson, Ibrahim Dan-Musa.

“As a group with special interest in happenings in Nigeria, especially the northern part of this great country, we have been consistent in observing the new approach of covertness and studied silence by the  new DSS leadership that has been working tirelessly to rid our region of insecurity.

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“We are particularly happy with the kind of DSS leadership we now have that is not interested in self-adulation or self-praise, but in results. Even when it was clear to all that the DSS was behind these security gains, the leadership of this security service refused to speak out or take the credit. We are pleased to note that this is in line with the DG’s promise on assumption of office to return the Service to covertness.

“We are particularly pleased that, even after the NSA severally mentioned that the feat was a result of intelligence -led operations, the DSS Director General, Mr. Tosin Ajayi, who was physically present at the press conference, did not behave like someone whose agency has just recorded a major milestone in the global war on terror,” noted the group, stressing, “we commend his composure, humility and studied silence.”

Added the group, “We are not surprised. As Assistant Director in charge of Operations in Kaduna, Mr. Ajayi, in 2009  coordinated the rescue of a Canadian woman, Julie Ann Mulligan (45 years old at the time), who had been kidnapped whilst on a Rotary International exchange programme. The operation involved the same covert approach; surveillance, tracking and use of human assets, which resulted in locating Mulligan in a village near Kaduna municipal. No ransom was paid, no single shot was fired, and, of course, there were no casualties during Mulligan’s rescue. We remember that, at the time, the Canadian and Kaduna State Governments, as well as Rotary International, issued statements commending the DSS,” noted the group, adding, “the news reports of Mulligan’s rescue are well-documented on the Internet, including the May 1, 2009 edition of Thisday newspaper captioned “Kaduna Kidnap: How Canadian Was Rescued.”

NEYGA concluded that, “this new approach of covertness and efficiency displayed by the DSS in the capture of the terror group leaders are clear signs that Nigeria is on the true path to winning the war on terror.”