Six Suspected Boko Haram Members Caught By Traders In Borno

Six suspected Boko Haram gunmen were on Wednesday arrested by traders at Gamboru market in Maiduguri, Borno State, and handed them over to men of the Joint Task Force, JTF, according to eyewitnesses.

Eyewitnesses said when the gunmen entered the market, they were spotted by a trader who saw weapons hidden under their garments.

“It was a trader that alerted us when he saw them and we immediately trailed and rounded them up,” a 36-year-old grocery merchant in Maiduguri, Babagana Aji said.

“We caught them before they could bring out their guns. After we succeeded in disarming them, we beat them blue and black before handing them over to the soldiers.”

Sanusi Dantakai, who is also a trader at the market said Gamboru traders were fed and couldn’t take more of the attacks on them in their own land, prompting their action.

“This Gamboru market had suffered several attacks. Boko Haram has set it on fire twice and killed several traders and an orange vendor, among others,” he said.

“We are tired of the losses we incur at every attack carried out by Boko Haram. That was why we summoned courage to catch them today.”

Just as residents have joined in the offensive against the Islamist sect in Borno, suspected Boko Haram members, yesterday evening, detonated an Improvised Explosive Device, IED, in Maiduguri, targeting the patrol vehicle of the JTF.

Spokesman of the JTF, Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa and the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Gideon Jubrin, could however not be reached for confirmation as total network blackout remains in the state with the emergency rule still in place.