Mr. Sokoto, we gathered, was arrested in the early hours of Friday at an emerging Boko Haram cell in a remote village in Taraba State.
He was intercepted by a high calibre squad of the State Security Services. A source gave the name of the village where he was found as Muntum Biu but that could not be independently confirmed as of the time of this report.
He was brought into Abuja at 2.45 p.m today, heavily guarded by fully armed operatives.
Sources within the Service say the secret police infiltrated a Boko Haram cell in Abaji, Abuja, shortly after Mr. Sokoto fled, gathering a lot of information about his movement.
After tracing him to Taraba, the agency deployed its most effective security gadgets to track the suspect down, our sources said.
Mr. Sokoto was arrested with some members of his terrorist group after a gun battle with law enforcement operatives who raided the sect’s budding training camp in Taraba.
The source said a Boko Haram cell, led by Mr. Sokoto, was establishing a base in the state before his arrest.
He is currently being held in one of the state security’s interrogation centres in Abuja. He will be transferred to the military for safe keeping.
Mr. Sokoto was initially arrested at the Borno State governor’s lodge in Asokoro, Abuja, alongside a serving military officer. He was then taken to Abaji by police officers investigating the case to search a house believed to be owned by him.
He escaped from police custody while the search was underway, authorities said.
Following his escape, Zakari Biu, the head of the Seventh (7) Zonal Command of the Nigeria Police Force handling Boko Haram investigation in the Crime Investigation Department was suspended by the IGP and subsequently placed under house arrest.
Before the incident, he oversaw the team that lost Mr. Sokoto. He remains in detention at an undisclosed location.
The other junior police officers in the team that lost Mr. Sokoto are also being held.
President Goodluck Jonathan reportedly gave the then Inspector-General of Police, Hafiz Ringim, a 24-hour ultimatum to produce the Boko Haram suspect. He failed and was later retired.
Mr. Sokoto is considered a key official of the Boko Haram sect, founded by Mohammed Yusuf in 2002, to congregate people committed to the propagation of Islam and Jihad.
The organisation is an extremist sect that seeks to abolish the secular system of government and establish a Sharia system in the country.
