Boko Haram: 40 foreigners arrested in Sambisa forest

- 40 foreigners were arrested within one week within the deadly Sambisa forest following the recovering of the forest from Boko Haram terrorists

- It is believed that the foreigners were providing “back-up” for Boko Haram

40 foreigners arrested in Sambisa forest

At least, 40 foreigners were arrested within one week within the deadly Sambisa forest following the recovering of the forest from Boko Haram terrorists.

According to a report by The Nation, profilin

g of the foreigners has started to determine whether or not they were working in cahoot with Boko Haram insurgents.

A military source said the identities of the foreigners and their missions in Sambisa Forest will not be revealed untill after a thorough screening has been completed but it is believed that the foreigners were providing “back-up” for Boko Haram.

”In the last one week since we launched massive operations in Sambisa Forest, we have arrested over 40 foreigners.

“We will come up with the details later after the profiling of these suspects. They are all being debriefed. But we discovered that there were so many foreigners in the midst of Boko Haram.

“We have also rescued a lot of people who are being screened too.”

Speaking further, a source told the newspaper that recovering the forest from Boko Haram was no easy feat.

“As for the operations in Sambisa Forest, our gallant troops have successfully taken over Camp Zero and Camp S (Shape) which are the headquarters of Boko Haram.

“The success of the operations is significant because there is no habitation beyond these areas in Sambisa Forest. The area is about 66,000 sq kilometres and there are so many parts uninhabited.

“Many insurgents, including their leaders, were killed and many were captured. Many insurgents are now fleeing. The situation now is that Boko Haram insurgents have been dispersed and dislocated.”

On the fate of the remaining Chibok girls, the source said: “The fleeing Boko Haram insurgents must have relocated them from Sambisa Forest but we are already hunting for them.”

But a DSS source said the invasion of Sambisa Forest had entered the second phase, which is the pursuit of the fleeing insurgents.

The source said the operations in Sambisa were both intelligence-driven and military onslaughts has resulted to the elimination of the insurgents from the forest.

“We have finished almost 90 per cent of the job with Boko Haram. We are now in the second phase which is the most difficult. We are pursuing the fleeing Boko Haram insurgents.

“The good thing is that we prepared for this fallout (the fleeing of the insurgents) long before the takeover of Sambisa Forest. We are trained professionals to curtail the effects of Boko Haram insurgency, especially the fallout of routing them out.

“We are apprehending the fleeing insurgents. Even yesterday, we took some of them in," the security chief stated.

Meanwhile, Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested the third most wanted terrorism suspect in the world. The suspect remains unnamed because he is still “undergoing profiling”.