The Nigerian military on Sunday said that it could not confirm the arrest of a popular Boko Haram kingpin, Bashir Sarkin Yanka,”Bashir the King of Slaughter.”

Bashir is said to have acted in videos in the past as the notorious Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shakau.

According to a statement issued by spokesperson for Operation Lafiya Dole, Dele Alonge, an Air Commodore, the counter-insurgency operation in the North east has resulted in the deaths of several insurgents and arrests of others, some of whose identities only be revealed until after investigation.

 “As you are aware, the Nigerian military has succeeded in routing out terrorists from some of their hideouts in the North-East and in the process some were eliminated and others have been arrested. We cannot at the moment provide the identities of those in our custody or in other places until after we have conducted thorough investigations,” Alonge explained.

The youth vigilante group, Civilian JTF, in Konduga local government area of Borno State, had claimed that it arrested Bashir, who claimed to have acted as Abubakar Shekau in the past, including in videos and social media.

Bashir, according to the vigilante group, confessed to killing his mother, brother, two sisters, and several other murders.

Alonge also announced the arrest of two suspects who infiltrated the ranks of internally displaced persons, IDPs, who were being taken from Pulka to Gwoza in Borno State.

The suspects, Audu Umar and Hassan Umar, are currently undergoing interrogation by a combination of military and intelligence agents.