Young Son of Boko Haram Founder Arrested in Another African Country, Details Emerge
- A son of Boko Haram’s founder has reportedly been arrested alongside five members by the police in Central African country, Chad
- Reports making the rounds on Monday, August 18, revealed that Muslim Mohammed Yusuf, better known as Abdrahman Mahamat Abdoulaye, was allegedly leading a jihadist cell
- As of the time of filing this report, Chadian security forces have yet to confirm 'Yusuf's detention
Legit.ng journalist Esther Odili has over two years of experience covering political parties and movements.
Muslim Mohammed Yusuf, a young son of Boko Haram’s founder has been arrested in Chad, where he was allegedly leading a jihadist cell, according to both an intelligence source and a former insurgent.
Source: Getty Images
Yusuf alias Abdrahman Mahamat Abdoulaye was reportedly arrested alongside five other suspected members of the movement, which was founded in neighbouring Nigeria a few years before his birth by his father, radical preacher Mohammed Yusuf.
As reported by The Punch, the Islamist group has sown terror around the Lake Chad region for around 15 years and has mounted increasingly brazen attacks on villages and military bases in recent months.
Six suspected terrorists arrested - Chadian police
Meanwhile, Chadian police confirmed that six Boko Haram members were arrested but could not disclose if one of them was the older Yusuf’s son.
Source: Getty Images
Sources confirm arrest
A Nigerian intelligence source in the Lake Chad region told AFP at the weekend that they received a report of the arrest of a six-man jihadist cell in Chad.
“The team was headed by Muslim, the youngest son of the late Boko Haram founder,” said the source.
The source, however, said that the cell belonged to the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) group, a rival offshoot that splintered off from Boko Haram over ideological disagreements.
The source added that Yusuf was an infant when his father was killed in 2009 during a military crackdown on Boko Haram that left some 800 people dead, giving his age as 18.
Photos seen by AFP after the arrests in Chad show a young, short, and slender man in a blue tracksuit—with a striking resemblance to Yusuf—standing next to far older men.
Yusuf reportedly said to be the younger brother of ISWAP leader Habib Yusuf, alias Abu Mus’ab Al-Barnawi.
A former lieutenant of Yusuf’s father, who has denounced Boko Haram but has knowledge of the group’s inner workings, also said Yusuf had been arrested.
“He and the team were arrested by Chadian security. They are six in number,” he told AFP.
Chadian police said they had arrested “bandits who operate in the city… they are undocumented, they are members of Boko Haram,” police spokesman Paul Manga told AFP from N’djamena.
He said the cell was arrested “a few months ago.”
Nigeria’s counter-terrorism centre and the national intelligence service are yet to react to the development.
Read more Boko Haram here:
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Army neutralises Boko Haram leader in Borno
Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that the Nigerian Army said its troops led by Operation Hadin Kai have neutralised Boko Haram/ ISWAP leader, Amir Abu Fatima.
The army in a statement released to the press also confirmed that it has killed scores of terrorists and destroyed their strongholds in Borno state.
This happened days after Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno state met with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and held discussions on how to end Boko Haram terror in the northern region.
Source: Legit.ng
