The Gamboru Market Mosque attack claimed five lives and left 32 worshippers injured, throwing Maiduguri into panic during the festive period.
A suspected Boko Haram suicide bomber, Ibrahim Mohammed, arrested by troops of Operation Hadin Kai in collaboration with local hunters in Yobe State, has given chilling details of how he was recruited, funded and deployed to carry out deadly attacks on worshippers in Maiduguri.
Mohammed admitted that he received N100,000 for suicide bombing missions.
Ibrahim, who confessed 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 32 worshippers injured, throwing Maiduguri into panic during the festive period.
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 recce on military positions and hunters’ groups for possible attacks on new recruits,” he said.
He further disclosed that additional suicide bombers had been deployed to Damaturu to target mosques and markets.
Ibrahim was arrested at about 2:30 p.m. on December 29 in Damaturu by local hunters working with Operation Hadin Kai during a raid on a suspected hideout inhabited by Almajirai.
Security sources said his unusual behaviour raised suspicion, leading to his arrest and subsequent interrogation, during which he confessed to being a member of the Boko Haram Terrorist JAS faction operating from the Mandara Mountains.
He also admitted that he entered Maiduguri alongside the bomber who detonated the explosive device at the Gamboru Market Mosque.