The State Security Services (SSS) says it has re-arrested Abdulazeez Obadaki, a commander of the Ansaru terrorist group who escaped during the 2022 Kuje Custodial Centre jailbreak and has been on the run for more than three years.
The secret police disclosed this in a statement it shared with PREMIUM TIMES Friday evening.
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The SSS said Mr Obadaki, also known as Bomboy, orchestrated the 7 August 2012 mass shooting at a Deeper Life Bible Church near Okene, Kogi State, where armed men opened fire on worshippers during a service, killing at least 19 people, including the pastor.
Several others were injured in the attack that signalled insurgents’ expansion from north-east to north-central and south-west Nigeria.
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At the time, Boko Haram, also known as Jama’tu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS), was suspected to have carried out the attack. Six months earlier, it had claimed responsibility for an attack on a Kogi prison that freed more than 100 inmates, including Abu Bara’a, a former Boko Haram commander who co-founded Ansaru.
Abu Bara’a and his brothers-in-arms formed Ansaru following a 2012 schism that rocked Boko Haram over monetary and doctrinal issues.
Security experts believe that Abu Bara, who hails from Okene, Kogi, facilitated the recruitment of many youths from the area, making Ansaru’s impact felt in the North-central state and beyond. However, experts attributed most attacks around Kogi to the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), another breakaway faction of Boko Haram.
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He has now been re-arrested alongside one of his commanders, Mallam Mamuda, whose unit continues to terrorise residents of Niger and Kwara states near the Kainji National Park. PREMIUM TIMES peofiled the two Ansaru leaders here.
The re-arrest of Obadaki
The SSS said its operatives recaptured Mr Obadaki in a “well-oiled intelligence operation” on Friday morning. It did not share the details of the arrest.
The secret police said Mr Obadaki confessed to “orchestrating the Kuje Custodial centre jailbreak following his transfer from Kabba Custodial Centre in June 2022.”
PREMIUM TIMES could not independently verify this claim.
However, checks on the details of the terrorists declared wanted by the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) following the Kuje prison attack show that Mr Obadaki was 58th on the list.
Following the Okene massacre, Mr Obadaki, according to the SSS, was also linked to the violent daylight robbery of five commercial banks in Uromi, Edo State.
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The robbery, staged in February 2022, claimed eight lives including two police officers, while 12 others were injured.
Following his escape from Kuje prison, the SSS said Mr Obadaki went into hiding. It remains unclear where he hid during the three-year manhunt or whether officials have identified those who aided him in achieving this.
His arrest comes about two months after the SSS arraigned five suspects connected to the 2022 attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State.
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