At least 1,000 members of the insurgency group have been nabbed in different areas of the South West by the northerners in the region.
This was revealed by the head of the Hausa Community, Sarkin Hausawa of Lagos, Alhaji Sani Kabir on Thursday, October 16, 2014 in Abuja during a visit to the Minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, Alhaji Kabiru Tanimu Turaki (SAN) from the Arewa Council of Chiefs in th South West.
According to ThisDay, he said the arraigned people involved Boko Haram members who escaped the Civilian JTF/military attack in the North East and those who were bent on continuing insurgency in the South West.
Kabir said, “So far in the South West, we have peace and this is achieved through the collaboration of Arewa people and chiefs.
“You can confirm with the security agencies, we have arrested more tham 1,000 Boko Haram members throughout the South-West states.
“Any suspicious movement, we promptly report to the security agents, because we believe that the problem is actually the Nigerian problem, but if there is any breakdown of law and order in the South-West, we are the prime targets, irrespective of whether you are a member of Boko Haram or not.
“All the Arewa sarkis (kings) in the South-West are up and doing, to make sure that we do not allow any breakdown of law and order in our communities,” he said.
While disclosing how they arraigned the insurgents, he said, “we inform our leaders when new people come into our midst, and we observe their behaviour. Some of the leaders in the South-West are northerners, some of them are from Borno State, they can know.
“There were even instances where JTF do come from Borno State to identify some of them,” adding that those identified as Boko Haram members were immediately handed over to security agencies.
Meanwhile, he expressed appreciation to the leaders for their continuous effort avert insurgency in the South-West.
He said, “I want to thank you for the enormous support you have given to this government and for the enormous support you have given to Mr President as a person right from the time of the 2011 electioneering to date.”