In Ondo To Attack Before I Was Arrested – Boko Haram Suspect

Mohammed Bashir, a Boko Haram suspect arrested last Sunday in Ondo state, yesterday disclosed that members of the group were planning to strike in the state when he was nabbed by security operatives.

Bashir said some members of the dreaded group were now residing in different parts of the state having escaped from the northeast, the center of their operations.

“I was arrested while looking for a place to eat. I was with other members of the group looking for food. Some of us are in different parts of the state.

“We were planning to attack people and facilities. We were even planning to strike when I was arrested by the law enforcement agents.

“My colleagues are in Nasarawa and some other states in the north. But a sizeable number of us has relocated to the south west. We are many in Ondo state,” he said.

The 20-year-old Boko Haram member was arrested by men of the state police command at Isua-Akoko in Akoko Southeast Local Government Area.

He was nabbed at the place where Idris Babawo, another member of the sect on the wanted list of the military, was arrested last week.

Bashir spoke at the Police Headquarters in Akure, the state capital, after being paraded among other suspected criminals by the Commissioner of Police, Olugbenga Adeyanju.

The jihadist said members of the group were fond of killing for pleasure, adding that he had killed two persons since he was initiated into the group.

Bashir, who spoke in Hausa through an interpreter while narrating how he joined the group, said: “I was sent away by my father in Kano state. He expressed concern about my silence and cold attitude at home.

“I was later asked to come home by my mother who was receiving treatment at a psychiatric hospital in Kano state for ear problem.

“I used to be a herdsman before I was recruited into the Boko Haram sect. I became a member about eight months ago. I was captured in the forest while gracing my cattle. I was later initiated into the sect.

“I’ve killed two persons since I joined the group, one child and a man. Killing people was normal to us. We Killed for pleasure most of the time.”

He said some influential people in the country were behind the group, adding: “They are the ones who supply weapons we use for our operations.”

The suspect, who urged other members of the group to lay down their arms and stop killing people, said he had repented since he was arrested.

He begged Federal Government for pardon, saying: “We are two children of my parents. If I am killed, my parents will be left with only one child. He is the one that goes to farm with my father.”

Adeyanju said Bashir was arrested on Sunday by a special anti-crime patrol squad along Ifira road in Isua, adding that after interrogation, the suspect confessed to be a member of the dreaded Boko Haram group.