Son Of Boko Haram Founder, Five Other Terror Suspects Arrested In Chad While Leading Jihadist Cell –Sources

The son of Boko Haram’s late founder, Mohammed Yusuf, has been arrested in Chad, where he was reportedly heading a jihadist cell, multiple sources confirmed.

Identified as Muslim Mohammed Yusuf, the young man was captured along with five others suspected to be members of the Islamist movement that his father established in Nigeria before he died in 2009, according to AFP.

For nearly 15 years, Boko Haram has waged a brutal insurgency across the Lake Chad basin, carrying out deadly raids on villages and military outposts. In recent months, attacks have become increasingly bold.

While Chadian police confirmed the arrest of six Boko Haram suspects, they did not verify if one of them was the son of the group’s founder.

A Nigerian intelligence officer stationed in the Lake Chad region told AFP over the weekend that they had received reports of the arrest of a jihadist cell in Chad.

"The team was headed by Muslim, the youngest son of the late Boko Haram founder," said the source.

The officer explained that the suspects were linked not to Boko Haram directly, but to the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), the faction that split from the main group after an ideological rift.

According to the source, Yusuf was still a baby when his father was killed in a Nigerian military crackdown in 2009 that left around 800 people dead. He estimated the young man’s current age to be 18.

Photographs obtained by AFP after the arrest in Chad appear to show a slim, short young man in a blue tracksuit who bears a strong resemblance to the late Yusuf, standing among older detainees.

Yusuf, who reportedly goes by the alias Abdrahman Mahamat Abdoulaye, is also said to be the younger brother of ISWAP leader Habib Yusuf, widely known as Abu Mus’ab Al-Barnawi.

A former lieutenant of Mohammed Yusuf, who has since denounced the group but remains familiar with its inner circles, also confirmed the arrest.

"He and the team were arrested by Chadian security. They are six in number," he told AFP.

Chadian police said they had arrested "bandits who operate in the city... they are undocumented, they are members of Boko Haram", police spokesman Paul Manga told AFP from N'djamena.

This comes days after the Nigerian Government announced the arrest of notorious leader, Mahmud Mohammed Usman, popularly known as Abu Baraa, and his deputy, Mallam Mamuda.