Muslim Mohammed Yusuf, the son of Boko Haram’s late founder, has been arrested in Chad, where he was reportedly leading a jihadist cell, according to an intelligence source and a former insurgent.
Yusuf was taken into custody alongside five other suspected militants linked to the movement, which was established in Nigeria by his father, radical preacher Mohammed Yusuf, a few years before his birth.
Boko Haram has terrorized communities around the Lake Chad region for nearly 15 years, increasingly targeting villages and military installations in recent months.
Chadian authorities confirmed the arrest of six Boko Haram members but did not specify whether one was the son of the group’s founder. A Nigerian intelligence source in the Lake Chad area told AFP that a six-man jihadist cell had been apprehended in Chad.
“The team was headed by Muslim, the youngest son of the late Boko Haram founder,” the source said, noting that the cell was affiliated with the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a rival Boko Haram offshoot.
Yusuf, who was an infant when his father was killed in a 2009 military crackdown that left around 800 dead, is now 18. He is also known by the alias Abdrahman Mahamat Abdoulaye and is the younger brother of ISWAP leader Habib Yusuf, alias Abu Mus’ab Al-Barnawi.
AFP obtained photos showing a young, slender man in a blue tracksuit, standing next to older men, who bears a striking resemblance to Yusuf.
A former lieutenant of Mohammed Yusuf, who has since denounced Boko Haram but retains knowledge of the group’s operations, confirmed the arrests. “He and the team were arrested by Chadian security. They are six in number,” he told AFP.
Chadian police spokesperson Paul Manga described the suspects as “bandits who operate in the city… they are undocumented, they are members of Boko Haram,” adding that the arrests occurred “a few months ago.”
Nigeria’s counter-terrorism centre and national intelligence service have not responded to requests for comment.
