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A Boko Haram kingpin in the list of wanted terrorists of security forces in
Nigeria has been arrested, the Defence Headquarters has revealed.
The
terror kingpin, according to a statement issued by the Director,
Defence Information, Major General, Chris Olukolade, in Abuja, was
detected in the ongoing screening of the 486 suspects nabbed while
travelling in over 33 Hiace Hummer buses at night, on Enugu-Port
Harcourt Expressway, on Sunday.
“So
far, other security agencies, including the para-military, have joined
the screening exercise to ascertain the status of the remaining
suspects.
“Those identified as possible security risk or illegal immigrants are expected to be identified for further action.
“Meanwhile, the identified terror kingpin has been taken into custody.
“Further development will be communicated to you (the media) in due course,” the statement read.
The
Defence Headquarters also raised the alarm over moves by some foreign
writers, hiding under the banner of Human Rights Watch, to discredit its
counter-insurgency operation, saying that it would not succumb to their
pressure.
A
statement issued by Major-General Olukolade maintained that “the knack
by some foreign writers, especially the ones now hiding under the banner
of Human Rights Watch to willfully twist facts and deliberately impute
ulterior motives, all with a view to discrediting Nigeria’s
counter-insurgency operation, is becoming legendary.”
The
spokesman for the Defence Headquarters, in a statement entitled: “Re:
40,000 reasons why Sri-Lanka is no model for Nigeria,” averred that one
Andrew Stroehlein, in an article published in the Human Rights Watch
news publication of June 16, 2014, which was widely syndicated to many
dailies in Nigeria and abroad, tried so desperately to distort the
import of interactions between Nigerian military and visiting Sri-Lankan
military delegation at the Defence Headquarters and the statement that
emanated from the event on June 12, 2014.”
The
statement, which conveyed the outcome of the visit and the meeting that
Mr Stroehlein chose to misinterpret and use as launch pad to disparage
the Nigerian military, was explicit enough in stating that Nigeria’s
Chief of Defence Staff assured the visitors that “Nigerian military is
seriously considering the counter-insurgency experience of Sri Lankan
military, with a view to identifying those areas that could be
operationally beneficial to Nigeria in its battle to defeat terrorism.”
The
statement read in part: “Obviously, it is only typical for people with
Mr Stroehlein’s mindset to trumpet the falsehood, as reported especially
in some foreign news channels, claiming that Nigeria has decided to
adopt the Sri Lankan model in the fight against terror.
“How
else will Mr Andrew Stroehlein and his co-travelers, who often shield
their bias with the claim of defence of human rights, justify their
desperation to denigrate and undermine the integrity and sovereignty of
other nations? Which other way will their obsession with the illusion of
their supremacist positions be made presentable?
“They
simply could not fathom why Nigeria or its military should give a
thought to listening to Sri Lanka’s experience in fighting terrorism.”
I pray something good comes out of this, Amen.
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