The State Security Service (SSS), on Saturday,
announced the arrest of Husseini Maitangaran , a
top commander of by Islamic State of West
Africa (ISWA), otherwise known as Boko Haram.
He was arrested in Kano on 31 August.
Maitangaran, according to a statement issued
by the service, spearheaded several deadly
attacks in Kano in 2012.
The statement, signed by SSS spokesman, Tony
Opuiyo, said the service arrested other top Boko
Haram terrorists, who were part of a foiled plan
to disrupt the last Eid-el-Kabir celebrations in
the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Kano,
Kaduna, Niger, Bauchi, Yobe and Borno states.
This followed the discovery of an elaborate plan
by ISWA terrorists to launch attacks that would
have disrupted the Eid-el-Kabir festivities that
took place between 1 and 4th September.
According to the SSS, the plan entailed gun
attacks and suicide bombing on selected targets
in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Kano,
Kaduna, Niger, Bauchi, Yobe and Borno states.
The Service identified Maitangaran as the
mastermind, adding that he had been on the
wanted list of the SSS and the Nigerian Army
since he coordinated the armed attacks on the
office of the Assistant Inspector-General of
Police (AIG) Zone I on January 20, 2012, and
other public places in Kano.
The suspect was also said to have been behind
bomb attacks on worshippers at the Kano
Central Mosque and another on a military
formation in Yobe State, which killed over 100
people in 2015.
"Under the banner of ISWA, which he belongs,
Maitangaran, an Improvised Explosive Devices
expert, had been prepping and priming others for
the perpetration of suicide bombing attacks
carried out by the group in the past within the
North-East region," said the SSS.

Source: JtownConnect