from EMEKA OKONKWO in Abuja, Nigeria
Nigeria Bureau
ABUJA, (CAJ News) – TWO teenagers alleged to be improvised explosive device (IED) experts of Boko Haram have surrendered to the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF).
They have been identified as Abubakar Mohammed (alias Garba, aged 19) and Bana Modu (13).
MNJTF rates this as a notable success in the ongoing campaign to dismantle Boko Haram’s operations in the region.
Lieutenant Colonel Abubakar Abdullahi, spokesperson of the regional forces, said during preliminary investigation, Mohammed and Modu revealed they had been ordered to plant explosives along roads in the Borno State, northeast of Nigeria.
“Instead of carrying out their mission, they decided to abandon their task, escape with the IEDs and surrender to the MNJTF,” he said.
Items recovered from the two include two IEDs, two mobile phones and a sum of N53 000 (US$43).
“This development underscores the MNJTF’s commitment to encouraging other terrorists hiding in the Lake Chad Islands to come out, surrender and lay down their arms, in a bid to achieve sustainable peace in the region,” Abdullahi said.
Boko Haram is an Islamist sect that has carried out terror attacks in Nigeria since 2009.
The insurgency has spread to the neighbouring countries of Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
– CAJ News