The son of Boko Haram’s late founder, Mohammed Yusuf, has been arrested in Chad, where he was reportedly heading a jihadist cell, multiple sources have confirmed.
Identified as Muslim Mohammed Yusuf, the young man, estimated to be around 18 years old, was captured along with five others suspected to be members of the Islamist movement his father established in Nigeria before being killed in a 2009 military crackdown that claimed about 800 lives.
According to AFP, the arrest was carried out by Chadian security forces, though police did not officially confirm the identity of the group’s founder’s son among those detained. A Nigerian intelligence officer stationed in the Lake Chad region told AFP that reports had reached them about the arrest of a jihadist cell in Chad, allegedly led by Muslim, the youngest son of the late Mohammed Yusuf. The officer added that the suspects were believed to be linked not to Boko Haram directly, but to the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a splinter faction formed after an ideological split from Boko Haram.
Photographs obtained by AFP reportedly show a slim, short young man in a blue tracksuit, resembling the late Yusuf, standing among older detainees. The arrested youth, said to use the alias Abdrahman Mahamat Abdoulaye, is also believed to be the younger brother of ISWAP leader Habib Yusuf, also known as Abu Mus’ab Al-Barnawi.
A former lieutenant of Mohammed Yusuf, now an opponent of the group, confirmed the arrest: “He and the team were arrested by Chadian security. They are six in number.” Chadian police spokesman Paul Manga stated that “bandits who operate in the city… they are undocumented, they are members of Boko Haram” had been apprehended in N’djamena.
The arrest comes just days after the Nigerian Government announced the capture of another notorious leader, Mahmud Mohammed Usman, popularly known as Abu Baraa, and his deputy, Mallam Mamuda. For nearly 15 years, Boko Haram and its offshoots have waged a brutal insurgency across the Lake Chad basin, with attacks becoming increasingly bold in recent months.
Source: Apexnewsgh.com
