Britain’s Prime Minister, David Cameron, has announced he has offered aerial surveillance aircraft, probably an RAF Sentinel spy plane, plus liaison officers to interpret its signals and work with American intelligence officers involved in the hunt for more than 200 Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped last month, Sky News reports.
The girls were kidnapped by Islamist group Boko Haram.
Army Lieutenant-Colonel Myles Caggins confirmed the use of US planes in efforts to locate the girls, who were abducted from the town of Chibok, Borno State, on April 14.
In addition, a Global Hawk drone made by Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC) is assisting in the search, according to US officials, who asked not to be identified discussing the addition of the unmanned aircraft.
The US has joined countries including the UK, China and Israel in offering to help Nigeria rescue the girls from Boko Haram.
Also, one of the masterminds of the April 14, 2014 bomb blast at Nyanya bus station, Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche, has been arrested in Sudan, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) announced in Abuja on Wednesday.
Furthermore, residents of three villages in northern Nigeria have repelled an attack by suspected Boko Haram Islamist fighters, an eyewitness has told the BBC. Witnesses also said disgruntled soldiers opened fire on the convoy of a top military commander in Maiduguri, Borno State capital.
Ogwuche is one of the two prime suspects that were at large after five other arrested suspects were paraded in Abuja.
According to Mike Omeri, the director general of NOA, Ogwuche was arrested in Sudan. Omeri, who disclosed this during a press briefing jointly organised by the coalition of the security agencies, said efforts were still being made to bring him back to Nigeria.
“During the last press conference…two suspects were placed on the wanted list. We wish to authoritatively confirm the interception and subsequent arrest of one of the two, Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche, whom we said fled to Sudan…he actually did flee to Sudan,” Omeri said.
“Mr. Ogwuche had earlier been declared wanted by the authorities in Nigeria for his involvement in the bombings in Nyanya. And the efforts of the Interpol and the Nigeria Police and the Department of State Security (DSS) have led to his arrest. Presently, the security authorities are working to bring him back to Nigeria,” he said.
It would be recalled that Abuja residents, who live at the suburbs of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), including Mararaba, Karu, Jikwoyi, Kpegeyi, Kurudu, One Man Village, New Karu and even New Nyanya, were rudely greeted on Monday, April 14, with a bomb explosion that killed 75 persons, mostly workers, traders and artisans, and injured several others. The attack took place at the popular El Rufai Park terminus at Nyanya at about 6:30a.m.
Again in the evening of May Day when workers were going home after marking the global Workers’ Day, they were again shocked by another blast some hundred metres away from the scene of the April 14 attack.
Meanwhile, about 200 militants were killed as residents of three villages in northern Nigeria repelled an attack by suspected Boko Haram Islamist fighters in the Kala-Balge district of Borno State, an eyewitness has told the BBC. The witness said the residents had formed a vigilante group.
Also, witnesses said no one was injured when angry soldiers, in protest against poor pay and a lack of equipment to tackle Boko Haram, opened fire as the convoy of a top military commander was entering the Maimalari barracks in Maiduguri.
Chris Olukolade, a major-general, confirmed an incident had taken place in Maiduguri, but said it was an internal matter and there was no reason for public concern.
It is exactly a year since President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in Borno and its neighbouring states of Adamawa and Yobe in an effort to curb Boko Haram’s insurgency.
TEDDY NWANUNOBI & HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE with wire reports
