Security forces attached to the Joint Task
Force (JTF) operating in Kano State yesterday afternoon arrested one of the
suspected masterminds of the attack on the convoy of Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado
Bayero, last month.
The man, simply
identified as Suleiman and also known as Babawo, was picked at his residence
located in Chiranchi quarters behind the old campus of Bayero University Kano,
security sources disclosed.
Security officials
revealed that the suspect was one of the brains behind the unsuccessful plot to
assassinate the monarch. He was also fingered as the person commanding several
insurgents attack in the city recently.
It was learnt that
four guns, over 1000 rounds of ammunition, handsets and cash were recovered in
the building during the arrest. The man, who is an indigene of Jigawa State, is
married to four wives and has eight children, added the official.
But another source
said the suspect was arrested at Hadejia Road on his way into the state, from
where he led security men to his house.
It was also
gathered that the suspect is a retired police corporal and has provided
information that led to the arrest of two other suspects at different parts of
the state, including a university undergraduate.
Meanwhile, the JTF
yesterday demolished the house of the suspect. It was not clear whether his
family were living there, but eyewitnesses said the house was pulled down by
bulldozers escorted by soldiers.
The motorcade of
the Emir of Kano was attacked on January 19, by many gunmen, after leaving the
venue of Qur’anic graduation ceremony at Masallacin Murtala in Gandu quarters.
Six persons were
killed by the assailants, while over a dozen others, including the emir’s two
sons, sustained injuries. Bayero and the two princes were flown to the United
Kingdom for medical attention a day after the incident.
Security agents had
on Monday, January 21, 2013 arrested a man who they claimed was a principal
suspect in the attack and who they said had been providing them with useful
information about others involved in the attack, information which led to the
arrest of three others.
However, all
attempts to get the comments of the JTF over the arrest was not
successful.
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Politics