The army said it has identified and arrested a member of the youth vigilante group, also referred to as Civilian JTF who has been supplying information to aid the activities of insurgents.
The terrorist, whom it identified as Babuji Ya’ari, is known to deal in tricycles and also spearheaded the murder of the Emir of Gwoza, Idriss Timta, on May 30. He was also accused of being complicit in the abduction of the Chibok girls on April 14th.
Director of Defence Information, Chris Olukolade, said Ya’ari’s main role in the terrorist group is to spy and gather information for them to strike.
Olukolade said the suspect has been coordinating several deadly attacks in Maiduguri since 2011, including the daring attacks on Customs and Military locations as well as the planting of IEDs in several locations in the town.
His arrest has also facilitated the arrest of other female members of the terrorists’ intelligence cell.
One of them, Hafsat Bako had earlier escaped to Gombe State to avoid suspicion but was tracked and arrested by security operatives.
Prior to her arrest, Bako coordinated the payment of other operatives. In her confession she said that a minimum of N10, 000 is paid to each operative depending on the enormity of his or her task.
Another female suspect named Haj Kaka who doubles as an armourer and a spy for the terrorists group was also been arrested.
“Until their arrest, all the suspects actively operated a terrorists’ intelligence cell in collaboration with others still at large,” the army spokesman said.
Meanwhile, he said troops deployed in Goniri, Yobe State, over the weekend clashed with a group of terrorists, resulting in casualties on both sides although the attack was eventually repelled.
The exact number of casualty was however, not disclosed