Nigerian Army arrests General Shuwa’s killers in Kano

The Nigerian Army on Monday announced that it has grabbed a man believed to be behind the murder of a retired General, Mannan Shuwa in Maiduguri, Borno State.

The Spokesman for the Army, Colonel Sani Usman, told reporters that the man would soon be paraded before the media and prosecuted before the court.

This is sequel to the arrest of three suspects in connection with the killing of the elder statesman by the Military Joint Task Force (JTF) in Maiduguri in 2013.

Muhammad Sani Nafiu (in white) said to have facilitated and aided the killing of late Shuwa; Ali Muhammad a.k.a Amir (in black), Boko Haram preacher in Baga since 2009

A statement issued by spokesman of the JTF, Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa, listed the names of the suspects as: Mustapha Umar, Goni Modu Lawan and Goni Ali.

The statement also said that the suspects, who confessed to being members of the Boko Haram sect under Gwange cell with one Abdul Kareem, said that they had carried out various attacks on both the military and civilians.

The Commander of the 3rd Brigade in Kano, Brigadier General Hamisu Hassan, also told newsmen that Muhammad Nafiu confessed to have participated in the killing of late Shuwa and many other Boko Haram operations in the northwest and east respectively.

General Hamisu said that the other suspect, Ali Amir confessed to have been a preacher of the group since 2009 but later disappeared after the killing of Boko Haram leader, Muhammad Yusuf.

The retired general was shot dead in front of his house on November 2, 2012 at the lower Gwange Area in Borno State, northeast Nigeria.

The dreaded sect, Boko Haram, had immediately denied killing the General and an associate of a former Borno State Governor, Ali Modu Sheriff, his orderly and a guest in his Maiduguri home.

Major General Mannan Shuwa was the pioneer General Officer Commanding of the Nigerian Army’s 1st Division, who commanded the Army’s division during the Civil War.