Nigeria: Troops Nab 50 Fleeing Boko Haram Gunmen In Biu

SAN FRANCISCO, September 23, (THEWILL) - Federal troops have arrested 50 fleeing Boko Haram members in Biu, southern Borno State.

THEWILL gathered that the fighters were heading towards Gombe State when they were arrested hiding in a truck.

A security source told THEWILL that the arrested insurgents are currently being held by the Nigerian Army and might have been detained at the Biu Barrack.

The fleeing insurgents were said to have been busted when some youth vigilante members in Biu suspected the truck carrying sheep and goats might have other things hidden in it.

The truck was thereafter searched thoroughly and the 50 young men were found hiding under the truck.

A separate security source confirmed that the arrested men, most of whom were between the ages of 18 and 25 and fluent in Kanuri and Hausa, confessed to being Boko Haram gunmen and were fleeing following the reported killing of their leader, Abubakar Shekau, by the military in Konduga last week.

The source added that the suspects pleaded for mercy as the promised to cooperate with security operatives by offering them useful information on the whereabouts of other insurgents as well as other group holding the Chibok girls.

The arrested men were also said to have confessed to being in the group that fought at Bama and Konduga where they were overwhelmed.