Nigeria’s military said late Wednesday it arrested a suspect believed to be the mastermind recent attacks on the central city of Jos and the northern town of Zaria. Both attacks killed more than 70 people.
The arrest coincided with a government offer to negotiate with the militant insurgent group Boko Haram, a decision some analysts say contradicts President Muhammadu Buhari’s pledge not to negotiate with terrorists.
Army spokesman Colonel Sani Usman said the arrest of the unnamed mastermind came at a checkpoint in Gombe State.
“As a result of tip-off and cordon and search at a checkpoint in Gombe State, Nigeria, the mastermind of the terrorist act in Jos at a mosque and restaurant and, of course, at the screening exercise in Zaria, Kaduna state, was arrested along with two others,” he said.
Usman declined to provide details on how the arrest came about except to say that it was a “combined operation” between the Department of State Service and federal troops. He said Nigerian security forces were doing everything in their power to deal with the Boko Haram problem.
