Borno Police Apprehend Four for Plotting to Incinerate IDP Camp

The Borno State Police Command has apprehended four individuals suspected of attempting to set fire to the Mafa IDP camp in the Mafa Local Government Area. The arrested individuals include Malum Usman, aged 16; Bulama Bukar, aged 14; Rawa Usman, aged 11; and their alleged sponsor, Babagana Umar, aged 40.

The state government expressed grave concern over the increasing incidents of infernos at IDP camps and pledged to arrest and prosecute those responsible. Prof Usman Tar, the Commissioner for Information and Internal Security, had raised an alarm about the situation, alleging the involvement of certain NGOs in a conspiracy.

However, during the parade of the suspects in Maiduguri, the state command’s spokesman, ASP Nahum Daso, did not specify any NGO as being involved in sponsoring the attempted arson. According to Daso, the suspects were apprehended after a hunters group in Mafa reported their suspicious activities to the police.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the trio was allegedly contracted by Babagana Umar, a firewood seller at Muna garage area in Maiduguri, to carry out the arson for a fee of N10,000. Umar denied the allegations, asserting that he was falsely accused while praying in a mosque, and expressed his willingness to swear by the Quran to prove his innocence.