Ex-Borno commissioner killed as ‘Boko Haram’ member • We handed Yusuf over to police alive – Military

Alhaji Buji Fai had served as a member of the Borno state executive council as commissioner of Water Resources before he was moved to the Ministry for Religious Affairs after he was said to have prevailed on Sheriff to be moved there. Fai was the elected chairman of Kaga local government from 1999 to 2001 […]

Alhaji Buji Fai had served as a member of the Borno state executive council as commissioner of Water Resources before he was moved to the Ministry for Religious Affairs after he was said to have prevailed on Sheriff to be moved there. Fai was the elected chairman of Kaga local government from 1999 to 2001 under the then All Peoples Party, APP when late Mala Kachalla was governor of the state. He also served as caretaker chairman in the same council before he was appointed by Sheriff after he first assumed office in 2003.

Sources said the former commissioner was arrested alive before he was shot. His body was lying in front of the police headquarters with series of gun shots yesterday morning.

It was gathered that Fai was a strong member of the sect as some properties owned by him were used by the members for activities. Police sources said he owned a warehouse in which some families of sect members in Bauchi, numbering about 180, were hidden in an outskirt of Maiduguri.

It was gathered that his association with the sect was of public knowledge as he was being hunted since the crises began with searches said to have been made in various parts of Kaga, his indigent local government area.

Meanwhile as controversies raged over the circumstances that led to the killing of the ‘Boko Haram’ sect leader, Malam Mohammed Yusuf, Borno State commissioner of police, Mr Christopher Dega confirmed to newsmen yesterday that the leader was handed to the police alive. He however said Yusuf sustained severe injuries from gunshots in an encounter with counter insurgency security men prior to his arrest and because of the severity of the injuries; he didn’t make it, implying that he was not shot after arrest by police as reported.

Muhammad Yusuf’s body was riddled with gunshots outside the state police headquarters. Sources said the leader was arrested in a cattle ranch inside his father in-law’s house, situated around the sect’s enclave, which was destroyed by the military on Wednesday in a counter insurgency operation.