Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, on Thursday, said the arrest and subsequent detention of terrorists’ negotiator, Tukur Mamu, is “the biggest breakthrough in Nigeria’s fight against Boko Haram (BH) and ISWAP insurgents”.
Reports say that the Department of State Services (DSS) on Wednesday arrested Tukur Mamu, publisher of Desert Herald, at the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano.
Mamu who is a media consultant to Ahmed Gumi, the popular Islamic cleric, was at the forefront of negotiations for the release of the Kaduna-train captives
Mamu was earlier detained at the Cairo International Airport in Egypt while he was on his way to Saudi Arabia for lesser hajj.
The DSS, through its spokesperson, Peter Afunanya, said Mamu was arrested following a request by the Nigerian Military to answer some questions relating to security.
“The biggest breakthrough in the fight against BH and ISWAP is the arrest, repatriation and detention of Tukur Mamu who is an accomplice to the terrorists and who negotiates for ransoms on their behalf,” Fani-Kayode wrote on his verified Twitter handle.
“I commend the noble and patriotic efforts of the DSS and National Intelligence Agency (NIA) in this respect.
“I urge them to go after his associates and other highly placed individuals that are close to him and that have also spoken and negotiated for the terrorists in the past.
“Finally I call on them to establish precisely what the link is between him and a leading figure in the PDP.”
This newspaper reports that Sheikh Gumi, an ex-soldier and medical doctor, had been campaigning for amnesty for the outlaws terrorising states in the north-west and some part of north-central Nigeria.
He had been to forests in Kaduna, Niger, Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara States to meet with governors and some notorious bandits with a view to striking a peace deal with the outlaws.