Mamu is the publisher and Editor-in-chief of the Desert Herald while Mubarak is the brother of Ibrahim Tinja, who was arrested alongside Mamu.
An employee of the Desert Herald, a Kaduna-based media platform owned by Tukur Mamu, the embattled terrorists' negotiator, has been arrested by Nigeria's secret police, Department of State Services (DSS).
The arrested employee of the media organisation has been identified as Mubarak Tinja.
Mamu is the publisher and Editor-in-chief of the Desert Herald while Mubarak is the brother of Ibrahim Tinja, who was arrested alongside Mamu.
Daily Trust gathered Mubarak was detained after he was invited by security operatives to retrieve phones and other equipment confiscated from Mamu's residence in the early hours of Thursday.
“The DSS went to the house and left a note for Mubarak Tinja to come to their office for the phones they confiscated and so he went with a friend. Sometime around 9pm, security agents asked his friend to return home and when he asked of (Mubarak) Tinja, they said they were keeping him for questioning,” a family member was quoted as saying.
On Thursday, SayaraReporters reported that heavily armed operatives of the DSS raided the residence and office of Mamu, carting away computers and documents.
It was learnt that DSS operatives laid siege to the home and office of Mamu.
A family source said about 50 heavily armed DSS personnel stormed the house around 12:30 am in commando style and turned the house and office upside down as they searched the entire compound.
"We were awakened by the pandemonium that announced the arrival of the officers who came in a large motorcade and were armed to the teeth.
"They conducted a random search in the house and his office but nothing incriminating or suspicious was found.
"But they seized all our handheld gadgets and computers. We are still in trauma and shock over this intimidation. We call on conscientious Nigerians not to allow this injustice to prevail.
"This is a man who puts his life at stake for the sake of others, yet all he could get was harassment, intimidation and threats to life. This can only happen in a country that has suppressed the rule of law and rights of its citizens," a family source had told Daily Trust.