Seven suspected members of the Boko Haram sect arrested in connection with the recent murder of a Zaria based Islamic scholar and preacher; Sheik Auwal Adam Albani, his wife and son have been paraded by the Department of State Security Services.

Briefing journalists on their arrest,Deputy Director, Public Relations Department of SSS, Marilyn Ogar  said Albani who was killed while returning from a preaching session at Markaz Salifiyya Centre, Tudun Wada, Zaria on the 1st of February, 2014, was targeted for his pro -western posture and his preaching which contradicts the Boko Haram ideology.
 
The suspects include ; Yakub Abdullahi, Ibrahim Kawu, Bilyaminu Usman, Sahabi Ismail, Umar Farouk, Yasir Ibrahim Salihu and Musa Abubakar.
 
Ogar said the hatred of Albani's style of preaching culminated in a meeting by members of the sect under the leadership of Yakub Abdullahi at Hayin Danmani in Rigasa Area of Kaduna, where Abdullahi who is the regional commander of Boko Haram in Kaduna declared that the shura council (the highest decision making body) had ordered the killing of Sheikh  Albani.

According to the SSS Spokesperson,“on the 23rd January, 2014, an attempt to strike at the cleric failed, as he was said to have travelled.  

Albani was subsequently placed on surveillance, and on the 1st February, 2014 he was tracked by members of the Boko Haram sect to Markaz Salafiya centre, where they waited for him till the end of the program, trailed him and eventually murdered him, his wife and son, while other occupants of the vehicle which was severally perforated with bullets sustained varying degrees of injuries.

Answering questions from the media, Yasir Ibrahim Sslihu, 35, a graduate of English Literature from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, confessed to being a member of the sect.  
Salihu who said he had been a member since 2009, while equally working as head of records and billing department, at Horizons Medical Centre, Wuse Zone 6, also said he was a custodian of the AK-47 riffles used by the sub-regional command of Boko Haram in Kaduna.

Also speaking, the killer of the renowned sheik, 22 years old Bilyaminu Usman confessed to the crime saying he emptied his magazine of 30 rounds of ammunition on his victims.

Stating that the suspect would be charged to court in no time, the SSS spokesperson called on Nigerians to be security conscious and report and suspected movement around them.

Sheik Albani was murdered in a cold blood on the first of February 2014.





Correspondent Nnabuchi Okey Nnabuchi