A suspected Boko Haram member, Ibrahim Mohammed, has confessed that he was paid about N100,000 to participate in the Christmas Eve bombing of a mosque in Maiduguri, Borno State.
Five worshippers were killed, while 32 others sustained injuries after a suicide bomber detonated an improvised explosive device inside a mosque at Gamboru Market on December 24.
Mohammed, who was arrested alongside another suspect by troops of the Nigerian Army, said he carried out the attack on the instructions of his commanders, identified simply as Adamu and Abubakar.
According to counter-insurgency expert, Zagazola Makama, the suspect disclosed during interrogation that the operation was planned by Boko Haram commanders operating between Adamawa State and the Mandara Mountains.
He explained that the attackers entered the mosque under the guise of worshippers shortly after the Zuhur and Asr prayers, when the mosque was largely empty.
“We came after Zuhur and Asr prayers. My colleague was digging to plant the IED in the middle of the mosque, while I was digging by the side,” Mohammed reportedly said.
In a further twist, the suspect admitted that after the explosion, he returned to the scene pretending to be among first responders.
“When I came back, they were evacuating dead bodies. I helped to carry corpses and injured people into emergency vehicles,” he added.
Mohammed also revealed that he later moved to Yobe State for other assignments, including reconnaissance on military formations and hunters’ groups, ahead of planned attacks.
He said Boko Haram paid him between N70,000 and N100,000 for each mission he carried out.
The suspect claimed he belonged to a wider terror network involving factions of Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad, Ansaru, and Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, responsible for coordinated attacks across the North-East.
Mohammed was arrested on Monday in Damaturu, Yobe State, by local hunters working with troops of Operation Hadin Kai during a raid on a suspected hideout.
Security sources said his presence among a group of Almajiri raised suspicion, leading to his arrest and subsequent interrogation.
The suspect also disclosed plans to attack the newly built Izala Mosque near Tashan Joni in Maiduguri but said the plot was abandoned due to heightened security in the area.
Efforts by security agencies to dismantle Boko Haram cells in the region have intensified in recent months, following renewed attacks on civilian targets in parts of Borno and Yobe states.
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