Tuesday, 13 May 2014

Nyanya bomb suspects paraded

Abuja, Nigeria - Security forces yesterday declared two masterminds of the April 14 Nyanya bombing wanted and placed a bounty of N25 million for information leading to their arrest.

Rufai Abubakar Tsiga and Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche said to be the master minds of the bombing on thebApril 14 at the El-Rufai Motor Park are now at large.

The spokesperson of the Department of State Security (DSS), Ms Marilyn Ogar, made the announcement in Abuja at a media briefing attended by the Director of Defence Information Major General Chris Olukolade, Army spokesman Brigadier General Olajide Laleye, Police
Headquarters spokesman CSP Frank Mba.

Five suspects, Ahmed Rufai Abubakar, Muhammadu
Sani Ishaq, Yau Saidu, Adamu Yusuf and Anas Isah, were paraded and accused of being collaborators in the bombing.

Ogar said Rufai Abubakar Tsiga, a Boko Haram member, is the mastermind of the bombing,
assisted by Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche, a student of Arabic language at the International University of Africa, Sudan.

"In the night of 13th April 2014 Rufai Abubakar Tsiga and Muhammadu Sani Tsiga moved the vehicle laden with explosives to the Nyanya Motor Park," Ogar said.

She added that in the morning of 14th Rufai Abubakar Tsiga moved the car bomb to the position where he detonated the explosives.

Muhammadu Sani Ishaq who helped Rufai Abubakar Tsiga in positioning the explosives is in the custody of the DSS together with the five persons who are
privy to the bombing, she added.
Ogar said UK-born Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche "with service number SVC 95/104, deserted the NigerianvArmy in 2006.

He served in the intelligence Unit of the Nigerian Army at Child Avenue Arakan Barracks, Lagos between 2006 and 2011."

She said Ogwuche was arrested on the November 12, 2011 at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja on arrival from the United Kingdom for suspected involvement in terrorism-related
activities but was released on bail on October 15, 2012 to his father, Col. Agene Ogwuche retired, following an intensive pressure from human rights
activist who alleged a human rights violation.

According to security forces, Ahmed Rufai Abubakar
was arrested on the April 12 at Gwantu, Sanga local government area of Kaduna state and admitted that Rufai Abubakar Tsiga confirmed to him that he and other members of Boko haram sect carried out the
attack.

Rufai Abubakar Tsiga from Bakori Local government in Katsina state also sent recharge card credit of N800 to Ahmad Rufai Abubakar after the bombing incident, the phone number of Muhammadu Sani
Ishaq was used in sending the credit.

Muhammadu Sani Ishaq was arrested in Utako Village behind Julius Berger Yard, Utako followingvthe disclosure made by Ahmed Rufai Abubakar.

Sani was a sales boy in Rufai Abubakar Tsiga's medicine store at Utako called Kishi Clinic which
served as a base for Boko Haram secret activities in FCT, the security forces said.

Sani was said to have further revealed that two days before the Nyanya Blast, Tsiga, his boss,
informed him of the plan to bomb a facility in Abuja but did not disclose to Sani the location.

He also said he was informed by Tsiga that the bombs to be used for the blast were being made at
the residence of one Adamu Yusuf.

Sani is said to have confessed that a day before the bombing he and Tsiga drove the car bomb and parked it behind four buses inside the Nyanya Park and Tsiga went to detonate the bomb around 7am the following morning.

Another suspect Yau Saidu was arrested on 29 th April at his village in Tsanyawa local government area of Kano state, Saidu is said to have been an
apprentice at Tsiga's medicine store in Utako village.

"Although he denied membership of Boko haram sect he claimed his uncle Tsiga and Muhammed
Sani Ishaq attempted to enlist him several times," Marilyn Oga said.

Saidu is said to have identified the perpetrators of the bombing as Tsiga, Sani and Ogwuche, according security forces, Saidu narrated the movements of the masterminds before and after the
bombing took place.

He alleged that when Tsiga learnt of Sani Ishaq's arrest, he fled Utako to an unknown location and left his business in the care of saidu.

Tsiga is said to have sent a text message to his wife Hauwa directing her to pack her belongings and run from the area.

On his part Adamu Yusuf was arrested in Bauchi State on May 5, and confessed to being a member of Boko Haram.

Yusuf told the security forces that Tsiga confirmed to him that the bombs used were coupled in a bush near the residence of Yusuf, Marilyn Oga narrated.

She added that, Adamu Yusuf claims that even though he knows Rufai Abubakar Tsiga, he did not take part in the bombing but mentioned the other suspects as members of the sect known to him.

Adamu is said to have claimed that Tsiga called him on the day of the bombing boasting that it was a job well done.

The fifth suspect paraded Anas Isah was arrested on May 3 in Faskari Local government area of
Katsina state.

The security forces said Anas came to Abuja and hawked yoghurt for one month in 2011 before coming back to work at a pharmacy in Wuye in
2012.

Anas Isah was said to have been invited by Tsiga in
2013 to work at clinic in Utako village for five
months.

Although he denied being a member of Boko Haram he identified Mohammadu Sani Ishaq and Rufai Abubakar Tsiga as members of the sect because
Tsiga had confided being a member of the sect to Anas.

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