About 87 of the over 486 travellers arrested in Abia State have been identified as members of the insurgent Boko Haram group, a security official disclosed to Premium Times Thursday. The security official noted that apart from the one earlier identified as a Boko Haram kingpin, 86 others have been identified as suspected terrorists. “But to be double sure, we have called for additional screening,” he said. He also said, the suspects were all headed to Port Harcourt when they were arrested, adding that most of them had never been to Port Harcourt before now while some did not even have up to N1,000 on them.
He said no weapons were discovered on them, but a certain kind of body marks associated with terrorists was on them. He also disclosed that the suspects were being held at 144 Battalion, close to Umuahia in Abia State, although the confirmed kingpin has been moved to a different location. “The kingpin is making very useful statements. Initially, he was trying to deceive the interrogators until he was confronted with fresh info,” the source said.
When the Director of Defence Information, Chris Olukolade was contacted with the information from the source, he said: “I cannot say anything now, the screening is still ongoing.”