The Nigerian Army said on Saturday that
it had put in place machinery to establish
the true identity of a suspected leader of
the Boko Haram sect, Jarasu Shirawho
was apprehended last week in Borno.

Maj.-Gen. Lucky Irabor, the Deputy
Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya
Dole, disclosed this in an interview with
the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in
Maiduguri.

Irabor said that ascertaining the true
identity of the suspect was to avoid past
mistakes where individuals were arrested
based on mistaken identities.

“We are in custody of a good number of
suspected terrorists that were
apprehended as a result of our routine
operations. One of those suspects is
believed to be on the list of our 100 most
wanted terrorists’ leaders,’’ he said.

Irabor, however, said that the army must
ascertain the true identity of the suspect
before final confirmation to the media.

“There are checks that must be done
before final confirmation, facial attributes
tended to show that he is the one. But
then, there are other things we need to
do to ensure that is he who we said he
is.

“Although the facial attributes confirmed
he is the one, it is not just by looks
alone. We have had cases where we had
mistaken identity, only to come up to say
we are sorry, that is what we are trying
to avoid this time,’’ Irabor explained.

Shira is believed to be the sect leader
around Damboa-Chibok- Askira axis of
Borno before he was apprehended. He is
believed to be one of the masterminds of
the Chibok Girls abduction on April 14,
2014.