Boko Haram member claims responsibility for killing 23 people.

A suspected member of the dreaded Boko Haram sect yesterday shocked residents of Ngomari Airport Ward of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, when he confessed killing 23 people in two days, including slaughtering a village head and some policemen.

The Boko Haram member, who was arrested on Tuesday evening, was said to have relocated to the area about a year ago to live as an innocent man.

A resident of Ngomari, who pleaded anonymity, told journalists yesterday in Maiduguri that the sect member was arrested spotting a pair of jeans trouser and vest when he wanted to fetch water.

According to him, the sect member, who was arrested by a youth vigilance group popularly called “Civilian JTF”, was a resident of Gwange, a stronghold of Boko Haram sect.

The resident said the Boko Haram member’s arrest was made possible when the vigilance youths went looking for him and arrested his younger sibling who took them to Ngomari where the suspect had been hiding.

He said: “We were shocked when we heard that the youths arrested the sect member in our area. We have never imagined we could have somebody like that in our area because we have been living peacefully.

“We were shocked when the sect member confessed that he killed 23 people in two days.”

The resident added that the youth group asked the whereabouts of one Idris Musa from the sect member whom he said was living at Ndollari, a community beside Ngomari.

The youth group, however, moved to the residence of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) chieftain in Maiduguri, barely 24 hours after it was alleged that the politician was sponsoring terrorism.

Meanwhile, the Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North may have gained mileage as some detained members of the sect have pledged to assist the government to end the Boko Haram violence.

The insurgents spoke on Tuesday when the committee visited one of the detention sites in Maiduguri.

Over 50 detained members of the Boko Haram sect pledged to assist the government end the crisis if they were given a second chance.

One of them, Adam Konto, introduced himself to the chairman of the committee, Kabir Taminu Turaki, as the Amir (commander) of the Bayan quarters one of the Boko Haram stronghold areas in Maiduguri and said that he spoke on behalf others.

Konto said: “We pledge to assist the authorities if given a second chance as most of us were brainwashed and recruited into the sect and given instructions to carry out dastardly acts without our full understanding of what we were doing.”

Another detainee, who identified himself as Babagana Saje, said that he is ready to renounce the sect and that the police should be praised for sparing their lives.

He said: “The police have been treating us fine. We have been allowed to take our bath and have been well fled.”

The chairman of the presidential committee, however, promised the detainees that their cases would be looked into, saying: “If you are sincere with this information we have gathered, we will bring you into the proposed amnesty agenda.”