By Nahum Sule (Taraba State Correspondent, in Jalingo)
Taraba State Police Command has arrested a 37 year old Bala Usman who was allegedly responsible for the recent mysterious bomb explosions in Taraba State.
In a press briefing in Jalingo, the Taraba state Commissioner of Police, Abimbola Sokoya, who made this Known, said the kingpin of the bomb expert was nabbed in Tella community of the State.
According to the Commissioner of Police, on June 9th, 2022, the terrorist gang in Tella town of Gasol Local Government equipped with a pistol loaded with seven rounds of ammunition, went to the house of one Usman Yakii of Gunduma village and attempted to kill him. They shot a round of life ammunition but fortunately, the victim was not hit by the bullet and the suspect was arrested.
He asserts that "when the Command commenced investigation of culpable homicide in the course of executing search warrant, the police recovered from his house in Tella, one hundred and ninety eight live ammunition, five hundred and fifty three ad-hoc live ammunition, one pistol with six rounds of ammunition, twenty plastic bottles of rough sodium, eight plastic bottles of acid, four plastic bottles of locally made bomb, three face mask, bunch wire, thirty three lighters and two empty magazines".
The police said their breakthrough was when they were able to link him with the bomb explosions recently at Iware on the April 19th, on April 22nd, Nukkai and at the Military base in Jalingo on May 11th which he has made confessional statements to that effect.
He further stressed that they were able to get to the root of the bomb explosions in Taraba State and pledged to sustain the onslaught against criminals in the State and advised the public to be extra vigilant.
Responding to questions from journalists, the suspect, Bala Usman, who said he is thirty seven years old and hails from Kebbi State, revealed that they are four in their gang operating in the North East, North West and North Central zonal areas, but that only three suspected said they are into kidnapping and armed robbery before they started planting bombs which he is now involved for about a year and a half with members of the gang. He confessed that they are members of Boko Haram.
He said other members of the gang are Abdullahi Baba (whom they met in Lokoja Kogi State where they were operating before relocating to Taraba State); then Abubakar Lawan and Abdullahi Garba, both indigenes of Yobe State and Yusuf, Saleh and Kabiru, who are residing in Kano. NNL.
