Raid on Boko Haram Commander's house yields fruit

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The Nigerian military said on Monday it discovered a treasure trove of information and weapons following a dawn raid on the residence of a commander of Boko Haram in Maiduguri, capital of northern Borno state.

Lt.-Col. Sagir Musa, spokesman for the military Joint Task Force (JTF) deployed to battle the sect in its spiritual base, said in a statement that the raid on the residence of the wanted sect commander led to the recovery of a laptop computer containing information on how to prepare Improvised Explosive Device (IED), a notebook containing the names of sect members, including those already killed, and 54 SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) cards.

Also recovered were 40 IED remote control, three AK-47 rifles, 39 primed IED cans and six empty magazines.

''The Task Force wishes to thank members of the public, particularly our moles in Boko Haram, for giving the information that contributed to the successes of the operation,'' Col. Musa said.

The sect has engaged in a violent campaign since 2009, following the killing of its leader, Mohammed Yusuf, by the police.

The sect, which is also bent on imposing the Islamic Sharia law on the predominantly-Muslim north, has killed 1,400 people in gun and bomb attacks, according to Human Rights Watch.
-0- PANA SEG 3Sept2012