•How spokesman was tracked and killed
•Islamist group fights back
•Sect’s alleged accountant arrested with
N4.5m cash in Zaria
This is an exclusive report of how men of the
Department of State Service, DSS, and the
Joint Task Force, JTF, tracked and killed Abu
Qaqa, the dreaded spokesman of the Jamaatu
Ahlil Sunna Lidawati wal Jihad, otherwise
known as Boko Haram, last Monday, in a
suburb of Kano State, North West Nigeria.


Just two days later, the JTF arrested a man
alleged to be the sect’s book keeper while in
transit to make some money transfers. He
was carrying N4.5 million. But it is also the
story of how the sect fought back, killing
more people to prove that it would not go
away just like that.


‘THE ACCOUNTANT’ comes to town
The commuters in the bus did not know they
were traveling in the company of a high-prize
suspect. They also did not know that the
suspect was carrying N4.5million in cash.
Perhaps had there been a thief with
premonition of what the suspect was
carrying, the latter may not have made it to
the JTF road block. But the money was neatly
packed in a sack and the suspect looked just
like the commuter sitting next to you in an
inter state commuter bus.


At the road block, the suspect did not betray
any emotions. The bus was just about
entering Zaria from Kano. Once the bus was
stopped, all the passengers on board were
requested to disembark. The JTF men knew
their suspect having received information
about his mode of dressing, the nature of the
bag he was carrying, his height and other
descriptive signs.
The suspect had moved all the way from
Maiduguri, the Borno State capital hours
earlier. His first port of call was said to be
Kano. Here, he was said to have entered a
bank (names withheld) and made some
money transfers to quite a number of persons
and destinations. These transfers aroused the
curiosity of the bank officials. He was in the
company of another person.


Between the time the bank officials made
contact with the police and men of the JTF
and a frenzied search commenced, the man
alleged to be ‘THE ACCOUNTANT’ of the
dreaded the Jamaatu Ahlil Sunna Lidawati wal
Jihad, otherwise known as Boko Haram, had
left Kano; but his counterpart, “a fairly
younger person”, according to a JTF source,
“was apprehended and brought in for
questioning. It was during intense
interrogation that the man volunteered the
information that his friend was actually ‘THE
ACCOUNTANT’ of Boko Haram”.


Sunday Vanguard was informed by sources in
Kano, Zaria and the Federal Capital Territory,
FCT, Abuja, that the man in the custody of
the JTF was the one who provided information
about the description of his counterpart. It
was these pieces of information that the JTF
men in Zaria relied on to intercept the alleged
‘ACCOUNTANT’
When the vehicle was stopped at the road
block, the commuters did not have any
inkling of what was to happen next.
“Everybody come down”, the JTF officer’s
voice thundered.


This had become a normal exercise for most
commuters traveling in most parts of the
affected areas of the North where Boko Haram
had shown its presence. The JTF men on duty
identified their man and reached for him once
he alighted. On him was N4.5million in cash.
He was promptly arrested and taken away. He
is presently in detention and said to be
“making useful statements”, a source said.
Every attempt by Sunday Vanguard to get
the name of the alleged ‘ACCOUNTANT’
failed. Even a commitment to act strictly
confidentially was rebuffed.

The name of the
bank where the first money transfers were
made in Kano and where the transfers were
sent was not disclosed by the authorities. “We
can not provide those details as the bank may
become a target”, the source said.
The arrest was carried out mid-day last
Wednesday.


THE KILLING OF QAQA
It may never be known whether he would
have done it. For Abu Qaqa, had he known
that the care for his wife would lead to his
death, the decision to head back to Kano last
Monday may have been shelved.
Information pieced together from the Federal
Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, headquarters of
the Department of State Service, DSS, Aso
Rock Presidential Villa, also in Abuja, and
Kano, suggest that Abu Qaqa likely took off
from Gombe State.
Once information filtered in early that the
group’s spokesman had been killed, the mood
inside Aso Rock Presidential Villa was one of
ecstasy.


Qaqa, who had been elusive from the security
agents, headed for Kano from Gombe with
the intention of getting a “needed medical
help for the wife”, a very dependable security
source volunteered.
Unknown to Qaqa – just like most of the Boko
Haram senior commanders – his movement
was always being tracked. Mind you, earlier
in the year when the DSS made some
strategic arrests of some senior members of
the sect, it was revealed that some super
high-tech tracking devices purchased by the
agency had made the tracking and arrests of
some of the alleged terror suspects possible.


It was these same devices – even more
sophisticated ones recently acquired – that
aided the Department in last week’s
successful operation. Qaqa, his wife and
children, along with some members of the
sect, proceeded from Gombe to Kano,
through Jigawa.
The Boko Haram’s spokesman’s wife needed
medical attention and he believed that it was
only in Kano that he could get the best of
medical attention.


All attempts by Sunday Vanguard to ascertain
the exact form of medical attention that
Qaqa’s wife needed, and for which he had to
make the long distance movement from
Gombe to Kano, proved abortive. And
because the JTF operatives were tracking
him, they knew exactly where to lay ambush.
At Mariri, on the outskirts of Kano, the JTF
operatives waited patiently.
Relying on the tracking signals, they sighted
the vehicle in which Qaqa and his family were
traveling and opened fire. It was a risky and
daring operation. Some other reports made
claims which suggested that Qaqa was not
the only adult male in the vehicle; that there
were at least two other men who were said to
be bodyguards.


The operatives, it was revealed, carefully
evacuated the woman and the children in the
car, while at the same time being mindful of
any possibility of a suicide bombing attempt.
“The operatives were very careful in taking
possession of the woman and the children
because she may have been wearing a
suicide vest”, a source said.
The woman was discovered to be Qaqa’s wife.
And whereas she reportedly claimed that she
was merely being escorted to Kano, “it was
later established that the man killed in the
vehicle was the husband and the trace
equally established that he was our man”, the
source disclosed. This happened last Monday
morning.


OTHER BREAKTHROUGHS
It was gathered that it was during
interrogation that the wife made some
disclosures abouty locations that would later
prove to be very useful to security operatives.
For instance, it was during interrogation that
the operatives got to know that a raid on the
Hotoro area of Kano municipal would yield
further breakthroughs.
Therefore, a team of the Joint Task Force, JTF,
stormed the hideout of the Boko Haram sect
in Hotoro area of Kano municipality, Monday
night, where one of the commanders of the
group was killed, while two other members
were arrested during the combat operation.


Sunday Vanguard was told that the military
action followed intelligence report indicating
the presence of high profile sect members,
who had been on the wanted list of security
agents in the area.
Our source further revealed that the daylight
operation involving several infantry and
counter-terrorism officers was swift and
ended within half an hour.
Sources, however, refused to divulge the
identity of the “top commander” killed during
the operation and those taken into custody,
pointing out that “what matters at the
moment is the success recorded during the
military action”.


Residents were apprehensive when a military
helicopter was seen hovering the skyline of
the city indicating a major military operation.
But that was not all.


THE SAFE HOUSES
Sources in Abuja disclosed that the arrest of
some commanders of Boko Haram sect during
the Hotoro operation also yielded positive
intelligence gathering results. It was through
the confessions of the sect commanders
arrested that the JTF men got to know of the
safe houses.
Two locations – poles apart and at extreme
ends – were revealed as places where the
sect’s safe houses were domiciled. One was
located at Rimi-Kebe. The other, at
Rijiyar’Zaki. Both houses reportedly belonged
to Qaqa.
The house at Rimi-Kebe was described by a
source as very “loaded”. It was there that a
cache of communications equipment
comprising laptops, computer Central
Processing Units, CPS, computer monitors,
telephone handsets and the like were
recovered.


A statement by the spokesman of the JTF in
Kano, Lt. Ikediche Iweha, titled, “Update on
capture of Boko Haram terrorists on
September 17, 2012, said, “Following further
operation in the suspects heavily wired IED
hideout, the following items were recovered:
Two AK 47 rifles, two pump action rifles, one
berretta rifle, one smoke discharger, 433
rounds of 7.62 Nato ammunition, 80 rounds
of 7.62 special ammunition, 2 AK 47
magazines, 36 prepared IEDs, 13 laptops, two
motorcycles, four printers, one photocopier,
one 33 slots zenith disc writer, one TG
3900Ez generator set, religious books, large
quantity of CD plates, two decoders, two
satellite dish, one 21′’ television set, one DVD
player, 2 bags of urea fertilizer, one elite dry
cell 12v battery, one blue gate UPS, one
stabilizer, 10 hand held Motorola radios and 5
battery chargers.”


The JTF further said, “This latest encounter
with the terrorist group has foiled its planned
attack to wreak havoc on the good people of
Kano State. It has equally further depleted
the capacity of the terrorist group to operate.
The JTF would like to use this medium to
reiterate its resolve to continue to work
assiduously towards the protection of lives
and property in the state. The relative peace
which Kano enjoys today can be attributed to
the collective effort and prayers of the good
people of Kano State.”
The JTF appealed to the general public to
continue to volunteer information while
assuring utmost confidentiality in dealing with
such information.
“Residents are therefore enjoined to go about
their normal lawful business activity without
any fear as security agents are ready and will
respond swiftly to any treat to life and
property in any part of the state,” it added.


But the victory of the task force, however,
came on a day some terrorists, alleged to be
Boko Haram members, killed the Attorney-
General and Commissioner for Justice, Borno
State, Mr Zannah Mallam Gana, and a former
Comptroller General of the Nigerian Prisons,
Alhaji Ibrahim Jarma Katagun, in Bauchi.


QAQA WITH MANY LIVES
But this would not be the first time that Qaqa
would be reported to have been apprehended
by security agents. There were indications in
mid-April, this year, via speculations, that the
group may have silenced its self-styled
spokesman and replacement for the arrested
Abu Qaqa. Security sources disclosed that
“Abu Qaqa” -11 may have been killed on the
orders of the sect’s leader, Abubakar Shekau.
The leader of the sect came out to deny this
vehemently. He may have been proved right
with the killing of another top commander of
the sect who was, last week, identified as the
real Abu Qaqa.


The report, which was denied earlier,
speculated that a certain Mohammed Anwal
Kontagora, who hailed from Kontagora, Niger
State, may have also metamorphosed into
and was also known as Abu Dardaa,
Mohammed Shuaibu, Mohammed Bello, Abu
Tiamiya and Abdulrahman Abdullahi.
He was reportedly arrested in January this
year. He reportedly took the name Abu Qaqa
in February after the original Abu Qaqa was
alleged to have been arrested.
Sources familiar with terrorists’ propaganda
machinery however made Sunday Vanguard
to understand that the sect may have
mastered the art of deception by repeatedly
using the generic name Abu Qaqa for its
spokes person.
“Don’t be surprised if tomorrow the sect
comes out to deny that Abu Qaqa was killed;
or when another statement is issued by the
sect with another Abu Qaqa signing the
statement. It is part of the mind games that
the sect appears to have mastered. But,
increasingly, the security agencies are also
doing their bit to contain the dastardly acts of
the sect”, one of the sources explained.


JTF
A very dependable intelligence source whom
Sunday Vanguard approached with a view to
having access into the inner workings of the
JTF simply said “this is not the time to begin
to discuss such matters”.
The very senior intelligence source said:
“When we are satisfied with the level of
containment, then we can begin to write the
history of who did what, where, when and
how. But, for now, all I can tell you is that the
JTF is made up of men of the DSS and military
men.
The DSS operatives provide the Intel after a
recon and even, in most cases, make the
initial movement into areas of engagement
with the military providing the necessary
back up – although there are times when the
military go solo after being provided with Intel
from the men of the DSS”.



www.vanguardngr.com/2012/09/war-on-terror-victory-against-boko-haram-in-sight/

VIVA! JTF

VIVA !! DSS

VIVA !!! NIGERIA

I wonder the kind of lullaby the accountant will be singing.

Im enjoyng this! If its America nd co now, some movie makers would have been tryng to put this on a video and the plot would be very interestng! Its a real action movie

JTF is trouncing BH! But BH are still pulling offside counter attacks to stay relevant!

Bravo, JTF! Aggressive intelligence gathering is the way to go. The attrition approach should be avoided like the plague. Let's tag the ducks and their cohorts, and then take them out one by one. Hahahaha!! Sayonara, suckers! Viva Nigeria!!!

How I wish our politicians can be this serious to make Nigeria better like our military men.

Sounds great.

Good Job JTF!

Also, if they should apprehend any one of this Boko guys alive, they shouldn't hesitate to use the water boarding technique the American CIA utilized for KSM (Khalid Shiek Mohamed) the 911 mastermind. This method is very effective to extract valuable info from terrorist, b'cuz it can cause extreme pain, dry drowning, oxygen deprivation, gag reflex and psychological damage.

White007: Good Job JTF!

Also, if they should apprehend any one of this Boko guys alive, they shouldn't hesitate to use the water boarding technique the American CIA utilized for KSM (Khalid Shiek Mohamed) the 911 mastermind. This method is very effective to extract valuable info from terrorist, b'cuz it can cause extreme pain, dry drowning, oxygen deprivation, gag reflex and psychological damage.

Guy u dey work for CIA?

I just wonder what they do with all these filthy toe-rags when they're captured ; just heard they've rounded up more than 100 of them in last weekends clampdown in Yobe state. I bet if checked properly, most of these bastards are from Niger, Chad and Cameroon, and if -as i suspect they would do- they just deport these animals back to their countries, they'd just come back again through the revolving door that they call our national borders.

The results of this BH insecurity palaver is clear... They Lost, Nigeria Won!