A founding member of the Boko Haram fundamentalist sect and leader of the breakaway militant Ansarul group, Mohammed Usman, commonly known as Khalid Al-Barnawi, has been arrested by the Department of State Services, DSS, in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital.

The Service confirmed the arrest on Saturday in a statement signed by Tony Opuyo, which stated that the terrorist leader was arrested on April 1”while hiding under false cover.”

Said to be a trained terrorist, Al-Barnawi is said to have been masterminded several terrorist attacks and activities, including the bombing of the United Nations building in Abuja, on 26th August, 2011; the kidnapping of two European civil engineers in Kebbi State in May, 2011 and their subsequent murder in Sokoto State and the kidnap of a German engineer, Edgar RAUPACH in January, 2012.

The DSS also said that he masterminded the abduction and killing of seven expatriate staff of Setraco Construction Company at Jama’are, in Bauchi State in February, 2013, as well as the attack of Nigerian troops at Okene, Kogi State in September, 2015 while on transit to Abuja for an official assignment.