Nigeria’s military said it
arrested the alleged leader of Islamist militant group Ansaru, an offshoot
faction of Boko Haram, which became known for kidnapping foreign nationals.
Khalid al-Barnawi, who was
among three Nigerian insurgent leaders listed as terrorists by the U.S.
government, was detained in the central city of Lokoja on April 1,
Brigadier-General Rabe Abubakar, a military spokesman, said by phone on Sunday.
Al-Barnawi, also known as
Mohammed Usman, has ties to Boko Haram and al-Qaeda in the Islamic
Maghreb, the U.S. Satet department said in 2012. Two years later, the
department offered a $5 million reward for information leading to the location
of al-Barnawi.
Ansaru claimed responsibility
for holding French engineer Francis Collomp for almost a year before he was
freed in November 2013. The group also killed seven foreigners working for
Setraco Nigeria Ltd. when they were seized in a February 2013 attack at their
residential compound in the northern state of Bauchi. Ansaru said it carried
out the attack in response to “the transgressions and atrocities done to the
religion of Allah” by European nations in countries such as Mali and
Afghanistan.
The group also raided a police
station in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, in November 2012, killing officers
and freeing detained militants.
Boko Haram, the more widely
known group, is in the seventh year of a violent campaign to impose its version
of Islamic law. President Muhammadu Buhari has repeatedly said his government
has beaten back the militants since he came to power in May and that they no
longer hold territory in the northeast, but the fighters are still carrying out
suicide attacks and massacres.
In a separate statement on Monday,
the army said troops killed 15 members of Boko Haram and rescued 275 hostages
during operations against the militants in the northeast on Sunday. Late
Sunday, army spokesman Colonel Sani Usman also said troops captured six
insurgents in the northeastern villages of Kadawu and Garna and recovered
explosive devices.