TheCable

Umar Abdulmalik, a suspected Boko Haram commander, has told of how the group carried out attacks across the country.

According to The Nation, he also admitted being actively involved in the explosions that rocked Nyanya and Kuje in Abuja, in 2015.

The 30-year-old reportedly said he was recruited into Boko Haram by an Islamic cleric who also indoctrinated him.

He was quoted as saying: “I joined one of the Boko Haram cells in Okene headed by one Zeeidi and we carried out several bombings within Kaduna, Kano and Abuja.

“Zeedi was the person providing the bombs and my job then was to take them to our target locations. After a while, the Department of State Security infiltrated our cell and they started arresting members of our group and Mallam Mustapha was arrested and his mosque was demolished.

“Zeedi also brought the idea of bank robbery … and he suggested we should attack the Kotonkarfe Prison in Kogi State, so we could free our members who were detained there.

“The attack on the prison was successful and we freed a lot of our members and immediately attacked some banks in Okene and emptied all the money therein.”

He was further quoted as saying the monies from the bank robbery were used to buy advanced explosives.

“Then I moved to Abuja with the bombs we produced and I formed a new cell in 2014 and we carried out several bombings, including those at Banex Plaza, Nyanya and Kuje areas of Abuja,” he reportedly said.

“But unfortunately, our gang was busted and five of our gang members were arrested and our bombs, including the non-metallic and the materials we were using in making them, were recovered.”

Abdulmalik said he escaped and went underground for two years but returned to Abuja with a new gang and “we went into full blown armed robbery”.

Operatives of the inspector-general of police special intelligence response team (IRT) arrested Abdulmalik in Lagos last week.