Boko Haram chief arrested in Lagos

A Boko Haram leader , identified only as Umar , has been arrested in Lagos .

Umar was arrested by the Inspector - General of Police Intelligence Response Team on Thursday .

A member of the team, who broke the news on Instagram , claimed that the suspect was the most wanted leader of the insurgents , adding that he was behind the Kuje and Nyanya bombings in Abuja in 2015 .

“ Umar is the most deadly and most wanted Boko Haram leader in Abuja , and the mastermind of the Kuje and Nyanya Abuja bombings of 2015 , gang leader of Galadimawa Roundabout attack in which seven police officers were killed ; Lugbe police officers killer; Gwagwalada area police killings , all in Abuja ; overall commander of Edo and Ondo states multiple bank robberies , several killings in the Okene area of Kogi.

“ He was the grand commander of the jailbreak of the prison in Niger State early this year, during which he lost one of his eyes , while over 100 prisoners escaped .

“ The most wanted suspect was arrested by a special IRT team in Lagos today ( Thursday ) after he escaped with bullet wounds from Abuja three weeks ago when the IRT team arrested four of his gang members and recovered four AK - 47 rifles and hundreds of ammunition . Today is one of the happiest moments of my life , ” he wrote in the post.

The Force spokesperson , Jimoh Moshood , confirmed the arrest .

He said , “ I am aware of some arrests made by the team. He is in police custody. ”