By Ibrahim Shuaibu
The suspected mastermind of the attacks on churches during their services at the Bayero University Kano (BUK) was killed Tuesday in a raid by the Joint military Task Force (JTF).

The task force launched an operation on a suspected bomb factory of Boko Haram members at Bubugaje area of Sharada in Kumbotso Local Government Area of Kano State.

Sunday’s deadly attacks led to the death of an estimated 35 persons, including two professors.
Also Tuesday, Boko Haram posted on Youtube a video of the April 26 attack on THISDAY office in Abuja which led to the death of five persons.

The video showed an SUV drive into the compound and then exploded.
The sect threatened to attack more media houses, as well as Nigerian offices of foreign radio stations.
The Commander of 3rd Brigade of the Nigeria Army, Kano, Brigadier General Iliyasu Abbah, told reporters while conducting them round the suspected bomb factory yesterday that the raid started around 4am following a tip-off.

Residents of the Bubugaje slum area of Kano awoke to several loud explosions and the sound of gunfire.
"It is really terrifying... everyone is indoors," said Anthonia Okafor, a student at Kano university, according to a Reuters report.

"Our men just raided one of the hideouts of the elements ... where we discovered explosives and weapons," said Lieutenant Iweha Ikedichi, a spokesman for the JTF.
"The main suspect has been killed," he added, referring to the suspected mastermind of an attack on BUK on Sunday.

Journalists were taken to the scene of the battle, described as a hot, dusty slum at the edge of a rusting industrial estate.

They brought out three women and two children they said had been rescued from the house, which was partly demolished by fighting.

The front wall was blasted off; the iron roof, collapsed.
“You know this the most difficult fight especially when you are dealing with terrorists because they know us but we don’t know them,” Abbah said.

According to him, another suspect escaped during an exchange of fire between the fundamentalists and the JTF operatives.

The brigade commander said items recovered at the house included 35 knives, 35 improvised explosive devices (IEDs), two laptops, five jerry cans, and a bank teller for N150,000.
Others were five high explosives, one AK47, 485 rounds of 7.62 mm special, nine rounds of 5.56mm and seven SIM cards and modems.

He urged members of the public to continue to cooperate with security operatives in order to rid the state of terrorists.

Abbah said the army would also continue to do its best in order to ensure that peace return to the state.
It was learnt that one of the women who claimed to be from Cameroon was also identified by the JTF among the women rescued from one of the operations in Kano metropolis and the house was later demolished by a bulldozer.

The raid came barely 24 hours after the police anti-bomb squad defused a bomb planted close to the mosque at the new site of BUK.
Meanwhile, in the Youtube video, the Boko Haram spokesman said the second group of media houses to be attacked are Punch, Daily Sun, Vanguard, Guardian, Nation, Tribune, and National Accord.
He also listed VOA Hausa radio as well as Leadership, Daily Trust, Peoples Daily and Radio France International.




http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/jtf-raids-bomb-factory-kills-buk-terror-suspect/114954/