By Celestine Okafor (Editor-in-Chief) @CelestineOkaf11
The Department of State Services (DSS) said on Wednesday that the Publisher of Desert Herald newspaper and a self-acclaimed Kaduna Train hostage negotiator, Mallam Tukur Mamu, is currently in the custody of the State Security Service.
Spokesman of the DSS, Dr Peter Afunnanya, said in a statement on Wednesday evening, September 7, 2022, that the clarification was necessary following several enquiries in respect of the arrest or otherwise of Tukur Mamu.
Dr Afunnanya explained that the DSS statement is to confirm that Mamu, as a person of interest, was intercepted by Nigeria’s foreign partners at Cairo, Egypt on 6th September, 2022 while on his way to Saudi Arabia. "He has since been returned to the country, today, 7th September, 2022 and taken into the Service’s custody", he explained.
The DSS also said " the act followed a request by Nigeria’s Military, Law Enforcement and Intelligence Community to their foreign partners to bring back Mamu to the country to answer critical questions on the on-going investigations relating to some security matters in parts of the country".
The DSS however maintains that the public may wish to note that the "law will appropriately take its course".
The controversial Tukur Mamu, said to be a spokesman for the Kaduna-based cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, was, according to earlier media reports on Wednesday, arrested on Tuesday, September 7, 2022, by the International Police (Interpol) in Cairo, Egypt, North of Africa.
Mamu was however quoted in a media report (not Nigerian NewsLeader) on Wednesday morning, that he was arrested quite alright but has been released after being interrogated without anything incriminating found on him. The reports said Mallam Tukur Mamu was accompanied by his two wives and one other person, and was expected to arrive the Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano state same Wednesday afternoon and may be taken in by the officials of the Department of State Security (DSS) for immediate interrogation.
Mamu is known to have negotiated for the freedom of some of the victims of the 28 March, 2022 Abuja-Kaduna train attack, most of whom are still being held by the terrorists.
He reportedly made public his withdrawal as the lead negotiator in the efforts to secure the freedom of the hostages of the Abuja-Kaduna train attack after that he alleged that the Nigerian government was not serious with the release of the hostages. Besides, Mamu also alleged that the government was threatening his life. NNL.
