TheCable

The Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) says troops of sectors 3 and 4 have arrested three suspected logistics suppliers of Boko Haram in Borno.

Kamarudeen Adegoke, MNJTF’s chief military public information officer, said the suspects were arrested on March 4.

Speaking at a briefing on Wednesday, he said two of them were apprehended while exiting Monguno town to the Tumbuns in a bid to link up with the terrorists.

Tumbuns (or Tunbuns) is the colonial transboundary line drawn through the patches of islands between Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger.

Adegoke said two blankets, two fishermen’s identity cards, three wristwatches, and two access passes issued by the terrorists were recovered from the suspects. 

The military information officer said the third logistics supplier was arrested on March 5 in Borno with an “ATM card and an invoice containing the lists of items to procure and possibly deliver to the terrorists”.

“During the preliminary interrogation, the suspect confessed that he has been involved in the supply of several logistics to the terrorists,” he said.

AbdulKhalifa Ibrahim, MNJTF force commander, commended the efforts of the troops and the commanders for the effective coordination of the operations.

Meanwhile, Adegoke said over 900 family members and suspected collaborators of Boko Haram/ISWAP insurgents have also been arrested so far by the troops.

Adegoke said the suspects — made up of women, children and elders — were arrested along the fringes of the Nigeria/Niger common border areas.

Adegoke said “collaboration with national authorities, subsequent profiling and handing over” of the suspects is ongoing.