An unspecified number of Boko Haram insurgents were on Tuesday arrested by Nigerian troops and members of the local youth vigilante group known as Civilian JTF at the Internally Displaced Persons’, IDPs, camp in Maiduguri.

The suspected Boko Haram members were said to have fled Bama along with the residents of the town after it was attacked by insurgents a few months ago and they had stayed in the camp pretending to be displaced persons since then. It was gathered that the arrested sect members were on Tuesday evening taken to Giwa Barracks in Maiduguri for interrogation.

An alarm was raised by other displaced persons in the camp when certain abnormalities were noticed about the suspected sect members. First, they were said to have isolated themselves from other displaced persons in the camp, refusing to mix freely.

Also, they were in the habit of holding meetings in groups, giving rise to suspicions that they were up to something sinister.

It was also said that guns were found on in the possession of some of them.

It was learnt that this is not the first time that members of the Boko Haram sect have been arrested in camps meant for internally displaced persons, as they also flee scenes of insurgency attacks disguised as refugees.

This strategy, it is believed, is to enable the insurgents infiltrate the IDP camps as well as the cities in which they are sited to gather intelligence; as the displaced persons are allowed free movement in and out of the facilities.