Nigeria nabs mastermind of recent suicide bomb attacks

Nigeria on Wednesday said the mastermind of recent suicide bomb attacks in the country has been arrested by troops at a checkpoint in the northern part of the country.

The unnamed mastermind was arrested in an area in the northeastern state of Gombe, along with two of his accomplices, while evading security checks, said a statement signed by the Nigerian army spokesman, Col. Sani Kukasheka Usman.

"The terrorist kingpin and his colleagues who disguised in a trailer while trying to evade checks were fished out by troops of the Nigerian Army. The arrested terrorists are currently being processed for further action and would soon face the full wrath of the law," the statement said.

Attacks planned by the suspect were respectively carried out on Sunday and Monday in Jos, capital of Nigeria's central Plateau State, and Zaria, a city in the northwestern state of Kaduna. Both attacks claimed 73 lives and injured scores of people.

Consequently, security cordon was established by troops of the 3 Division of the Nigerian army and secret police in the general areas, especially along the areas of attack.

"This culminated in the successful arrest of the mastermind of the heinous terrorist acts and two of his accomplices," the army statement added.

Boko Haram, a terror group which has killed more than 13,000 people since 2009, has been responsible for such attacks in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country.

Bomb attacks targeting civilians are one of the terror group's major tactics in causing panic and inflicting pressure on government.

A series of suicide blasts have been recorded in various parts of Nigeria this year. Boko Haram also extended its suicide bombings to neighboring Niger and Chad. Endi