9th February, 2016
Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja
Nigeria’s secret police, the State Security Service said on Tuesday that it has arrested Abdussalam Enesi Yunusa, a recruiter for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Kano.
The arrest of the ISIS recruiter was one in a harvest of arrests of suspected criminals listed by the DSS in a statement it released on Tuesday.
DSS said the alleged ISI recruiter was arrested on 17 January, 2016 sequel to available intelligence which indicated his terrorist antecedents and covert drive to indoctrinate and recruit susceptible youths in the country.
According to the DSS, before his arrest, he had completed arrangements to embark on a journey to join an ISIS terrorist training camp in Libya, with other Nigerians whom he recruited for the ‘Islamic State’.
The intelligence agency identified the recruits as Muhammed RABI’U, Yahaya Momoh JIMOH and Zainab SUNDAY (f).
The Service said the alleged ISIS recruiter is a 400 level undergraduate student of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State, where he was studying for a degree in Information and Media Technology.
DSS said he was subsequently radicalized and became a member of an extremist cell, comprising of Ibrahim (fnu) and Abubakar Ligali, whom he revealed are currently undergoing terrorist training in Libya.
DSS said Yunusa listed Aminu (fnu) and Ibrahim Jihad, a Nigeriene, as other ISIS agents operating in Nigeria and the West African sub-region.
“The cell was being funded by Abu-sa’ad Al Sudani, a media expert with the extremist group using Western Union money transfers to fund the terrorist cell agenda,” said the secret service.
DSS also said on 17 January, 2016, in Daura township of Daura LGA, Katsina State, another budding extremist cell affiliated to ISIS, was intercepted by the Service.
According to the intelligence agency Ibrahim Mohammed Daura, Zaharadeen Salisu and five other elements of the proscribed extremist group, Ansaru, were arrested by the Service.
“This group was discovered in an active stage, as its members were already co-ordinating themselves for attacks in Katsina and Kano states,” the service said.
In continuation of harvests of arrests, the intelligency agency also revealed that on 22nd January, 2016, it intercepted five individual who were on their way to Libya with their families in their bid to join ISIS.
Those intercepted, according to the DSS include Obansa Salami, Ejide Tijani aka Abu Uwaise II, Mohammed Rabiu aka Ubida II, Zainab Mohammed and Abdulqadir Salisu Ahmad.
The Service said the five individuals were arrested in Kano by its operatives while migrating to Libya, with their immediate families including infants, in a bid to join ISIS.
“This group was apprehended after painstaking monitoring of its network and plans,” DSS said.
Also, DSS said on 29 January, 2016, it arrested Mohammed Aliyu Ndako, a 17-year old undergraduate student of a tertiary institution in Kwara State sequel to credible intelligence on his plans with Abdulkadir Salisu Ahmad a.k.a Daddy Tall, another student in Kano State, to carry out coordinated lone-wolf attacks on selected populated targets in Nigeria preferably worship centres or recreation venues.
The Service revealed that the suspect had hitherto been communicating with foreign extremist elements, while sourcing online terrorist training and support.
Also, the DSS said between the month of December 2015 and February 2016, it busted the network of syndicated kidnap gangs spanning different regions in the country, especially Kebbi, Zamfara, Niger, Nasarawa, FCT, Oyo and Osun States.
“Foremost in this line, was the arrest of a gang of five kidnappers, Abubakar HASSAN, Usman MUSA, Usman ADAMU and Idrisa Babangida AHMADU at Ife junction, Osun State, on 3rd February, 2016.
“On 5th February, 2016, the fifth member of the gang, Saidu ISYAKU was arrested at Ojo area, Oyo State. These kidnappers, 6 AK 47 rifles, 5 magazines and about 1000 rounds of ammunition were recovered.
“This gang has been active in the South West axis of the country and were at advanced stages of kidnapping high value targets for huge ransom, before they were intercepted.”
The intelligence agency also said it recorded another breakthrough in the fight against kidnapping with the killing of Abubakar Mohammed, (aka BUBA), and an unidentified member of his group, on 8th February, 2016 close to Jebba Medical Centre, Jebba, Kwara State. The Service said security operatives killed the kidnap suspects as they tried to escape during a shootout with security operatives.
According to DSS, Mohammed was a notorious kidnap kingpin known for his brutality and various acts of lawlessness.
The agency said Mohammed and his men had terrorized, to no end, residents of the South West zone and was also linked to the kidnap of the elder statesman, Chief Olu Falae, in Ondo State.
Also, DSS said in the wake of vandalism of oil pipelines by criminal elements in the South-South region, it arrested Nengi Samuel Ikiba aka Kockman Abula, a notorious pipeline vandal on 27th January, 2016, in Bayelsa State.
Ikiba confessed to vandalizing several pipelines in the State, including the 24” Agoda/Brass Oil pipeline at Idema community in Ogbia LGA of Bayelsa State.
“The modest success of the Service in its support to the Federal Government to achieve its desired economic objectives and stability may also be noted,” said the Service.
In the same vein, DSS said it busted a group of fraudsters who had concluded plans to hack the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) domiciled in the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation in order to steal N4.5b from the Treasury Single Account (TSA).
The gang was led by Sunny OKOH, a hacker who worked in collaboration with the trio of Uwem Udo Ekpo, a Chief Program Analyst in the OAGF, Maxwell EKENE, a retired security operative and Dozie EGWU, based in Malaysia and who is now at large.
According to DSS, the suspected fraudsters intended to use a software they had sourced and codes released to them by EKPO to hack Government accounts in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and defraud the Government of this huge sum.
“It is instructive to note that a credibility problem would have arisen over the TSA policy if these hackers had succeeded in their plan and thus lend credence to the critics of the policy that it ought not to have been introduced and implemented.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the suspects have been handed over to the EFCC for further investigations and prosecution,” said DSS.
“It is pertinent to state that these successes were recorded as a result of proactive and credible intelligence offered by members of the public, sister security agencies and other stakeholders.
“This Service wishes to state that it will continue to deploy every means necessary within its statutory mandate, and armbit of the law to ensure the security and safety of all law-abiding citizens wherever they reside,” DSS said in the statement signed on its behalf by Tony Opuiyo.