A Doctor and a lawyer are being held by military authorities for their alleged links with Boko Haram insurgents.
Our correspondent learnt that the doctor was aboard a pick-up van plying one of the volatile routes in Borno State with some suspected Boko Haram insurgents.
He and other occupants of the vehicle reportedly fled and abandoned the vehicle at a military checkpoint mounted by members of the Joint Task Force (JTF) when soldiers accosted them
.
A military source told our correspondent that when the JTF officials searched the vehicle, a cache of arms and ammunition was found concealed in strategic places.
Several hours later, the doctor, whose name the authorities declined to release, allegedly returned to retrieve his laptop and other documents, which he had reportedly abandoned in the van.
During interrogation by the JTF men, the doctor was said to have revealed his identity, saying he worked with one of the affiliates of the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Asked if he realised the implication of the company he was travelling with and the arms and ammunition stocked in the vehicle, the doctor reportedly claimed to be working in line with a WHO mandate.
He was thus arrested and is undergoing investigation. The JTF team, after storming one of the Boko Haram training camps in the heart of Sambisa Forest in Borno State, reportedly discovered an abandoned makeshift clinic where injured members of the sect were apparently being treated.
Items found in the abandoned clinic included needles, syringes, medications, surgical equipment and other medical accessories.
It was, however, learnt that the authorities have not established a link between the detained doctor and the running of the clinic.
The lawyer was said to have been arrested in Potiskum, Yobe State, for “openly propagating the ideology of the Boko Haram sect and always rising to defend the sect members whenever they are arrested”.
He was reportedly arrested after issuing several threats against the military authorities for arresting the sect members.
The lawyer, whose names were also not given, was said to have vowed that the authorities would pay dearly for arresting him, even when he was in detention.
Two days after his alleged threat, the Government Secondary School, in nearby Mamudo, was attacked by suspected insurgents. Several people were killed in the attack.
It was learnt that the locals had testified some of the attackers, who were allegedly boasting on their way back from the bloody mission that they had avenged the arrest of their backer by the JTF.
The Director of Defence Information, Brig.-Gen. Chris Olukolade, confirmed both arrests but declined further comments.
He said: “Yes, I can confirm the two cases to you. But I am not ready to comment on them because investigations are still ongoing.”
Addressing some reporters yesterday, Olukolade, explained the reasons for the delay in trying the suspects arrested in connection with the Boko Haram activities.
According to him, most of the judges and lawyers in the three states, where the Federal Government had imposed emergency rule, have been avoiding taking up cases associated with Boko Haram suspects, apparently for fear of being attacked by the group
Our correspondent learnt that the doctor was aboard a pick-up van plying one of the volatile routes in Borno State with some suspected Boko Haram insurgents.
He and other occupants of the vehicle reportedly fled and abandoned the vehicle at a military checkpoint mounted by members of the Joint Task Force (JTF) when soldiers accosted them
.
A military source told our correspondent that when the JTF officials searched the vehicle, a cache of arms and ammunition was found concealed in strategic places.
Several hours later, the doctor, whose name the authorities declined to release, allegedly returned to retrieve his laptop and other documents, which he had reportedly abandoned in the van.
During interrogation by the JTF men, the doctor was said to have revealed his identity, saying he worked with one of the affiliates of the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Asked if he realised the implication of the company he was travelling with and the arms and ammunition stocked in the vehicle, the doctor reportedly claimed to be working in line with a WHO mandate.
He was thus arrested and is undergoing investigation. The JTF team, after storming one of the Boko Haram training camps in the heart of Sambisa Forest in Borno State, reportedly discovered an abandoned makeshift clinic where injured members of the sect were apparently being treated.
Items found in the abandoned clinic included needles, syringes, medications, surgical equipment and other medical accessories.
It was, however, learnt that the authorities have not established a link between the detained doctor and the running of the clinic.
The lawyer was said to have been arrested in Potiskum, Yobe State, for “openly propagating the ideology of the Boko Haram sect and always rising to defend the sect members whenever they are arrested”.
He was reportedly arrested after issuing several threats against the military authorities for arresting the sect members.
The lawyer, whose names were also not given, was said to have vowed that the authorities would pay dearly for arresting him, even when he was in detention.
Two days after his alleged threat, the Government Secondary School, in nearby Mamudo, was attacked by suspected insurgents. Several people were killed in the attack.
It was learnt that the locals had testified some of the attackers, who were allegedly boasting on their way back from the bloody mission that they had avenged the arrest of their backer by the JTF.
The Director of Defence Information, Brig.-Gen. Chris Olukolade, confirmed both arrests but declined further comments.
He said: “Yes, I can confirm the two cases to you. But I am not ready to comment on them because investigations are still ongoing.”
Addressing some reporters yesterday, Olukolade, explained the reasons for the delay in trying the suspects arrested in connection with the Boko Haram activities.
According to him, most of the judges and lawyers in the three states, where the Federal Government had imposed emergency rule, have been avoiding taking up cases associated with Boko Haram suspects, apparently for fear of being attacked by the group
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