Nigerian Army said on Saturday that it has put in place machinery to establish the true identity of a suspected leader of the Boko Haram sect, Jarasu Shira who was arrested last week in Borno.
Maj.-Gen. Lucky Irabor, the Deputy Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole told NAN in an interview in Maiduguri that ascertaining the true identity of the suspect is indispensable to avoid past mistakes where individuals arrested later turned out to be mistaken identities.
“We are in custody of a good number of suspected terrorists that were apprehended as a result of our routine operations. One of those suspects is believed to be on the list of our 100 most wanted terrorists’ leaders,’’ he said.
Irabor added that the army must ascertain the true identity of the suspect before final confirmation to the media.
“There are checks that must be done before final confirmation, facial attributes tended to show that he is the one. But then, there are other things we need to do to ensure that he is who we said he is.
“Although the facial attributes confirmed he is the one, it is not just by looks alone. We have had cases where we had mistaken identity, only to come up to say we are sorry, that is what we are trying to avoid this time,’’ Irabor explained.
Shira is believed to be the sect leader around Damboa-Chibok- Askira axis of Borno before he was apprehended. He is believed to be one of the masterminds of the Chibok Girls abduction on April 14, 2014.
-Leadership
