High-profile Boko Haram member arrested in Ali Modu Sheriff’s house – Zanna

By Emma Ujah, Abuja Bureau Chief
ABUJA — Senator Ahmad Zanna, representing Borno Central, has said a Boko Haram commander, Shuaibu Bama, was arrested in the house of former governor Ali Modu Sheriff and not in his (Senator Zanna) house, contrary to the claim by the Joint Task Force, JTF.

Speaking with newsmen, Sunday, Zanna said attempt by the JTF to link him with the Boko Haram commander by claiming that he was arrested in his house was a plan to frame him up.

The senator told journalists in Abuja, that he believed the JTF was trying to rope him in because of his recent interview in which he called for its withdrawal from the state on account of failure to adhere to the rules of engagement.

Senators Ali Modu Sheriff and Ahmad Zanna

His words: “About 40 members of the JTF came to my house in four armoured vehicles on the day in question. They ransacked my house and they did not see anything incriminating. Then they brought out all the boys they met in my house who included my children, aides and neighbours.

They beat them and put them under the sun and asked them if they knew Shuaibu Bama and one of them said yes.  They asked the boy to lead them to where he (Bama) was and that boy took them to where Shuaibu Bama was and they arrested him.

“He was not arrested in my house.  He was arrested in a house which belongs to Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff.  The question is why did the JTF say that Shuaibu Bama was arrested in the house of a serving senator?

I am the only serving senator who has a house on the Dabuwa Road.  Bama was not arrested in my house.  He was arrested at the house located at Rabi Street, off Dambuwa Road.  My case is a very clear case of framing.  But it has failed.”

Asked if he had any relationship with the suspected Boko Haram commander and the sect, Sen. Zanna admitted that the suspect was his nephew and once lived with him but that he had to  send him away from his house about a year ago, when he discovered that the man was into drugs, beat his children and threatened even himself.

His words, “Shuaibu Bama is my sister’s son.  He once stayed with me but I sent him away about a year ago when I discovered that he was a drug addict and was beating my children.  He even threatened me and also threatened to kill his mother. I did not know him to be a member of Boko Haram..”

Asked if he has been questioned by the JTF, the senator said no.  According to him, “it was only this morning (Sunday) that I received a text saying that the Director-General) of SSS wants to see me.”

Meanwhile, the Director-General, D-G, of the  SSS, Mr. Ekpenyong Ita,  has warned politicians fanning the embers of division in the country to put a stop to their acts, as the organisation would no longer tolerate those who try to create mischief in order to unsettle the nation.

He spoke at the graduation ceremony of its officials from the organisation’s training school, in Abuja, at the weekend.

“Let me reiterate the point that Nigeria can never be divided by the activities of some misguided, ignorant terrorists or those unscrupulous individuals whose activities and utterances kept chiselling though unsuccessfully the very foundation of those things we hold dear, particularly the unity of this country.  To this last group of people, I am saying enough is enough”, he said.

He added that service would continue to be proactive in its strategy in intelligence gathering and collaboration with other security agencies in the effort to stop the activities of terrorists, in the country.