ABUJA— ONE of the alleged masterminds of the April 14
Nyanya Bus terminal twin bomb blasts by the Boko Haram sect, which killed over
75 persons and injured others, Aminu Ogwuche, was yesterday extradited from
Sudan to Nigeria.
Ogwuche was brought back to the
country, apparently without the knowledge of the Sudanese Embassy in Nigeria,
according to the information available to Vanguard.
However, the fugitive who fled to
Sudan immediately after the incident, was brought to the Presidential Wing of
the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, at about 3p.m. aboard a
chartered flight by Interpol officials with the assistance of Nigerian security
men and diplomats.
At the airport to take custody of
the suspected bomber were a team led by the Coordinator of the National
Information Centre and Director General of the National Orientation Agency,
NOA, Mike Omeri; Director of Defence Information, DDI, Major General Chris
Olukolade; Police Force Public Relations Officer, FPPRO, Assistant
Commissioner, Frank Mba, and the Deputy Director, Department of State Services,
DSS, Marilyn Ogar.
Ogwuche, son of a retired Colonel of
the Nigerian Army, who was educated in Sudan, was declared wanted by the
Federal Government on May 15, shortly after the DSS paraded some suspects in
connection with the Nyanya bombing incident.
Also declared wanted was Abubakar
Tsiga, the alleged chief mastermind of the bombing.
Shortly after declaring him wanted,
Ogwuche was arrested by the International Police Organisation, INTERPOL, in
Sudan, where he fled to.
Earlier reports on the arrest of
Ogwuche, indicated that the Sudanese authorities were reluctant to extradite
him to Nigeria as a result of interference by a top Northern Emir among other
interests.
Vanguard, however, gathered that it
was in a bid to circumvent these ‘interests’ that the process of extradition of
the suspect to the country was made top secret by security operatives until his
arrival in the country yesterday afternoon.
In line with the security ploy to
keep Oguche’s extradition secret, the Police headquarters had sent an SMS
inviting newsmen to cover the unveiling of a “Special Counter Terrorism
equipment” at the airport, only for Ogwuche to be introduces as the
“equipment.”
Commenting on Oguche’s extradition
earlier in the day, the Sudanese Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr Tagelsir Mahgoub,
who was apparently not aware that the suspect was already in the country, said:
“All the papers (for his extradition) were signed by the two parties (Nigeria
and Sudan).
“What we are waiting for now is for
the Nigerian government to send a delegation that will come to our embassy to
get their visas because everything has been concluded.
“And I must say that there should
not be any delay, because it will delay the whole process.”
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