Boko Haram suspect confesses, says paid N100,000 to bomb Borno mosque (Video)
A suspected Boko Haram operative, Ibrahim Mohammed, has confessed that he was paid N100,000 to bomb a mosque with its worshippers in Maiduguri, Borno State.
The confession was disclosed on Wednesday by counter-insurgency expert Zagazola Makama on his X handle.
According to Makama, security sources revealed to him that troops of Operation Hadin Kai arrested Ibrahim in collaboration with local hunters in Yobe State.
Ibrahim, confessing to his role in the December 24 suicide bombing at the Gamboru Market Mosque in Maiduguri, said the operation was planned and executed on the orders of Boko Haram commanders operating between Adamawa State and the Mandara Mountains.
“My name is Ibrahim from Michika in Adamawa. We came to Maiduguri to plant bombs in Izala Mosque. We were sent by our leaders, Adamu and Abubakar, who gave us two IEDs to plant in the mosque,” he said during interrogation.
The Gamboru Market Mosque attack claimed five lives and left 325worshippers injured, throwing Maiduguri into panic during the festive period.
Watch videohttps://x.com/temihat/status/2006331730236743717?s=20
Explaining how the attack was carried out, Ibrahim said the terrorists deliberately took advantage of moments when the mosque was empty to plant the improvised explosive devices.
“We came after Zuhur and Asr prayers when the mosque was empty. We entered pretending to pray. My colleague was digging to plant the IED in the middle of the mosque while I was digging by the side,” he said.
He added that the explosives were connected and timed ahead of the Maghrib prayers.
“As Muslim faithful gathered to pray Maghrib, after the first raka’at, we detonated the bomb. We set the timing for five minutes. Shortly after, I ran to the market area,” he said.
In a disturbing revelation, Ibrahim admitted that he returned to the scene after the blast and pretended to be a civilian assisting victims.
“When I returned to the mosque, they were evacuating dead bodies. I helped them to convey the corpses and injured people in emergency vehicles,” he confessed.
The suspect disclosed that suicide bombing has become a paid assignment within the terror network.
“I was paid money ranging from N70,000 to N100,000 per mission,” he said.
He, however, claimed to have regretted his actions after witnessing the scale of civilian casualties.
“I regret my action for killing innocent people who did not commit any crime,” Ibrahim said.
According to Zagazola Makama, Ibrahim was part of a wider terror cell dispatched to carry out multiple attacks across the North-East as part of coordinated plans by Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS), Ansaru and Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) elements to execute suicide bombings and improvised explosive device attacks across the region.
It was gathered that a Boko Haram team led by a notorious IED expert, Munzir Abu Ziyadah, allegedly prepared up to 10 person-borne improvised explosive device (PBIED) attacks from the Ali Ngulde camp axis for the operation.
After the Gamboru Market Mosque attack, Ibrahim reportedly moved to Yobe State to conduct reconnaissance for further operations.
“After the mission, I proceeded to Yobe for another assignment, to carry out a recce on military positions and hunters’ groups for possible attacks on new recruits,” he said.
