paraded by the State Security Service in
Abuja.... on Wednesday
The State Security Service on Wednesday in Abuja paraded
an assistant lecturer in Arabic and Islamic studies at the Kogi
State University, Ayingba, Muhammad Yunus, for recruiting
and coordinating a Boko Haram terror cell in Kogi State.
The service said Yunus, who is the spiritual leader, runs a
terror group which comprised Umar Musa, head of operations/
instructor; Mustapha Yusuf (aka Habib); armourer/chief
courier, Ismaila Abdulazeez, a foot soldier; and Ibrahim Isah
(a.k.a one in town), who is also a foot soldier.
SSS Deputy Director, Media and Public Relations, Marilyn
Ogar, while briefing newsmen, explained that the terror cell
planned to launch attacks in Kogi State before they were
apprehended.
She explained that until his arrest, Yunus had held several
preaching sessions every last Saturday and Sunday of the
month at Ethnosho Secondary School, Ojiolo, Dekina Local
Government Area of Kogi State where he had about 80
adherents.
Similarly, the suspect held another session every Friday at the
Kogi State University mosque, Ayingba, where he had about
120 followers, whom he taught the virtues of Jihad and the
sanctity of the Sharia law as an alternative form of governance
and its entrenchment in the state and beyond.
Ogar said the lecturer, said to be a very active member of the
Academic Staff Union of Universities in KSU, maintained
extensive links with Boko Haram cells in Borno State where
he referred some of his followers to terrorist training.
"In March 2013, he facilitated the trip of two of his adherents
to Boko Haram's Sambisa Camp in Maiduguri, Bornu State
where they received training in weapon handling. They are
Mustapha Yusuf and Ismaila Abdulazeez who are now under
arrest. They were able to escape and returned back to him in
August 2013, following the military invasion of the camp,"
she said.
The SSS spokesperson said Yunus holds a Masters degree
from the University of Jos and a Ph.D in Arabic and Islamic
Studies from KSU, in 2012.
Yunus denied being a Boko Haram member when questioned
by journalists, but his claim was punctured by Yusuf,
Abdulazeez and Isah who insisted that he had been teaching
them about Jihad and how to exploit it to instal Sharia in Kogi
State.
Yunus, who admitted knowing his accomplices, alleged that
he was set up, adding that Islam which he preached, did not
endorse blood-shedding.
"I don't have any link with Boko Haram, in fact I preached
against them, that is why they have set me up. You can go to
Jos and ask for my tapes, I preached against them. Islam
doesn't support blood-shedding and I don't support it too," he
said.
One of the suspects, Isah said he was in company with Umar
and Abdulazeez on their way to Maiduguri, Bornu State for
training when they were arrested at a mosque in Zuba, near
Abuja.
Abdulazeez said he was indoctrinated by Yusuf in Nyanya,
Abuja and he subsequently travelled to Ayingba to see Yunus
who directed him to go with Isah to Maiduguri, but their trip
was aborted by their arrest.
Meanwhile, arraignment of a suspected Boko Haram member,
Abdulmanam Abidiki, could not hold on Wednesday due to
the absence of his defence lawyer.
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