Ibrahim Mohammed, a suspected member of Boko Haram, has confessed that he was paid N100,000 to attack a mosque in Maiduguri, Borno State, that had worshippers.
Counter-insurgency specialist Zagazola Makama revealed the confession video via his X account on Wednesday.
Makama claims that he was informed by security sources that Ibrahim was detained by Operation Hadin Kai forces working with local hunters in Yobe State.
“At about 2:30 p.m. on December 29, Ibrahim was arrested in Damaturu by local hunters working with Operation Hadin Kai during a raid on a suspected hideout inhabited by Almajirai. Security sources said his strange presence among the group raised suspicion, leading to his arrest and interrogation,” Makama wrote.
According to Makama, who cited security sources, the suspect acknowledged his role in the bombing at the Borno state Gamboru Market Mosque in Maiduguri on December 24, which killed five people and injured thirty-two worshippers.
Ibrahim claimed during questioning that Boko Haram commanders operating between Adamawa State and the Mandara Mountains ordered the attack to be carried out.
“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.
He also explained that they took advantage of times when mosques were empty to plant the explosives.
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“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,” Ibrahim said.
According to him, the devices were timed ahead of 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 added.
In a disturbing revelation, the terrorist said he returned to the scene of the explosion and pretended to be a civilian volunteer.
“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.
Ibrahim further revealed that the terror cell has turned suicide bombing into a paid task. He stated, “I was paid money ranging from N70,000 to N100,000 per mission,” and he later expressed regret for what he had done.
Makama was also informed by security sources that Ibrahim was a member of a larger terror cell that included members of Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS), Ansaru, and Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and was set up to conduct synchronised assaults in the Northeast.
After the Borno, Gamboru Market Mosque bombing, Ibrahim revealed moved to Yobe State for another mission.
“After the mission, I proceeded to Yobe for another assignment, to carry out a recce on military positions and hunters’ groups for possible attacks on new recruits,” he said.
He further revealed that other suicide bombers had been sent to Damaturu to target marketplaces and mosques.
He was also tasked with carrying out another attack at a new Izala Mosque next to Tashan Joni in Maiduguri, according to Makama.
Following the confession, troops of Operation Hadin Kai, supported by police explosive ordnance disposal teams, were deployed to the area identified by the suspect.
Security officials have strongly warned that an unsuspecting person might have picked up the bag even though no explosive device has been found.
