The Borno State Police Command yesterday said it had arrested a driver, Modu Mustapha, suspected to be purchasing fuel and food items for Boko Haram insurgents.
The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Damian Chukwu, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Maiduguri that the suspect was arrested after a tip-off by members of the public.
“The police have received information that one Modu Mustapha of Jumptilo village was a terrorists’ collaborator, who buys fuel and food for them at Alagarno and other hideout.
“The police descended on the suspect, who has confessed to the crime,’’ he said.
Chukwu alleged that the driver usually fetched firewood in the bush, from where he was suspected to have met the terrorists.
“He said he had been buying things for the insurgent group.
“We recovered N10,000 from the suspect, which the terrorists gave him to buy bicycle spare parts for them,†the commissioner said.
The commissioner said the suspect also named 15 other firewood vehicle drivers, who engaged in similar crime.
According to him, the police are yet to establish the motive of the driver buying things for the insurgents.
“We have not been able to establish his reasons for buying things for them, whether he is under the influence of spell, coerced into doing it, or doing it willingly as their collaborator,†Chukwu said.
He said because of the nature of the alleged crime, it would be transferred to the military for further action.
Chukwu said the police also arrested three men who specialised in adulterating grind-pepper, mixing it with sawdust and flower waste selling same to public as pepper.
“Those arrested included Bukar Masona, Babakura Umar and Ali Muhammad.
“The adulterated pepper they sell to the public is poisonous and unfit for human consumption,’’ he said.
The commissioner said that the suspects had confessed to the crime and would be handed over to the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), for further investigation.
