The co-mastermind of the April 14, 2014 bomb that went off in Nyanya, a
suburb of Abuja, Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche has been arrested in Sudan,
security sources say.
Ogwuche was reportedly arrested through the
help of the Military Attaché to the Nigerian High Commission in Sudan
with the help of international security operatives.
The suspect is a student of Arabic Language at the International University of Africa, Sudan is a British born Nigerian.
Ogwuche was formerly in the Nigerian Army with service number SVC 95/104 but was said to have deserted the Army in 2006.
The
Department of State Services (DSS) on Monday 12, May 2014 during a
joint news conference in Abuja declared him and one Rufai Tsiga planned
the bombing of Nyanya Motor Park on 14 April which killed over 75
people.
The DSS through its Director of Public Relations of DSS, Marilyn Ogar, announced the declaration.
According
to the Department of State Security, Ogwuche served in the Intelligence
Unit of the Nigerian Army at Child Avenue, Arakan Barracks, Lagos,
between 2001 and 2006. He was allegedly involved in terrorist activities
which led to his arrest at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja
on Nov. 12, 2011 at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on
arrival from the UK. But was however, released on bail to his father,
retired Col. Agene Ogwuche on Oct. 15, 2012 following intense pressure
from human rights activists, who alleged human rights violation.
Ogar,
who announced N25 million rewards for anyone who could give information
that could lead to the arrest of the duo, also paraded five suspects in
connection with the bombing. Ogar named the suspects as Ahmad Abubakar,
43, Muhammed Ishaq, 30, Yau Saidu, 28, Anas Isah, 22 and Adamu Yusuf, a
cleric, 43.
“Rufai Abubakar Tsiga, a Boko Haram leader, is the
mastermind of the bombing of April 14, 2014 at El-Rufai Motor Park,
Abuja.Tsiga was actively aided by a co-mastermind, Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche.
“The sum of N25 million is hereby announced as reward for anybody with useful information on their whereabouts,” she said.
The
director said that on the night of 13 April, Tsiga and one Muhammed
Ishaq, one of the arrested suspects, moved a vehicle laden with
explosives to the Nyanya Park.
“In the morning of 14 April,
Tsiga, under the direction of Ogwuche, moved the explosives laden
vehicle to the position from where he detonated the explosives,” she
said.
The DSS spokesperson said that the arrested suspects
claimed that they bombed the park to retaliate the killing of a Boko
Haram member at the park a week before the incident.
She denounced the claim as a fabrication by the mastermind of the bombing to elicit other members used for the bombing.
Ogar
urged the public to be wary as terrorist elements were disguising and
taking up menial jobs and parading themselves as businessmen daily in
Abuja and its environs.