Nigerian Army Arrests Islamist Commander in Northeast

Shuaibu Mohammed Bama, a wanted commander of the Nigeria Islamist group Boko Haram, was arrested in the residence of a serving lawmaker in the northeastern city of Maidguri, a military official said.

Bama was arrested by troops in Senator Ahmed Zanna’s private residence in the Borno state capital on Oct. 18, Sagir Musa, a military spokesman in the region, said in an e-mailed statement late yesterday. He didn’t say if Zanna, who represents Borno central constituency in the Senate, was also arrested.

In another incident, suspected Boko Haram members killed a retired senior customs officer and his son today in the northeastern town of Potiskum, in Yobe state, Patrick Egbuniwe, police chief in the state, said in a phone interview.

Boko Haram, which wants to impose Islamic rule in Africa’s largest oil producer, has claimed responsibility for bomb and gun attacks in the mainly Muslim north and the capital, Abuja, in which hundreds of people have died this year. The group has targeted churches, government buildings, security forces and moderate Muslims, killing more than 1,500 people since 2009, New York-based Human Rights Watch said on Oct. 11.

To contact the reporter on this story: Gbenga Akingbule in Maiduguri at gakingbule@bloomberg.net

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