The Department of State Services (DSS) has recaptured the mastermind of the deadly 2022 bank attacks in Uromi, Edo State.
The DSS said the suspect, identified as Abdulazeez Obadaki, had escaped during the jailbreak at the medium custodial centre in Kuje, Abuja.
Obadaki is also said to be responsible for the deadly shooting at Deeper Life College in Okene, Kogi State.
The re-arrest came nearly three months after the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, announced the arrest of two men he identified as leaders of the Ansaru terrorist group.
Ribadu, who disclosed this at a press briefing on security developments at the Office of the National Security Adviser in August, identified those arrested as Abu Baraa, the Amir, and Mahmuda, the deputy Amir.
“The first is Mahmud Muhammad Usman (aka Abu Bara’a/Abbas/Mukhtar), the self-styled Emir of ANSARU. He is the coordinator of various terrorist sleeper cells across Nigeria.
“He is also the mastermind of several high-profile kidnappings and armed robberies used to finance terrorism over the years.
“The second is Mahmud al-Nigeri (aka Mallam Mamuda), Abu Bara’s proclaimed Chief of Staff and Deputy. He is the leader of the so-called “Mahmudawa” cell hiding out in and around the Kainji National Park, straddling Niger and Kwara States up to the Benin Republic.
“Mamuda trained in Libya between 2013 and 2015 under foreign jihadist instructors from Egypt, Tunisia, and Algeria, specialising in weapons handling and IED fabrication,” the NSA had said.
He also disclosed that the two men had been on Nigeria’s most-wanted list for years, having jointly spearheaded multiple attacks on civilians, security forces, and critical infrastructure.
Ribadu said the suspects’ operations included the 2022 Kuje jailbreak, the attack on the Niger uranium facility, the 2013 abduction of French engineer Francis Collomp in Katsina, and the May 1, 2019, kidnapping of Alhaji Musa Umar Uba (Magajin Garin Daura).
