Coordinator of Suicide Bombing in North East Arrested

Post created on 1:21 pm

The principal coordinator of a recent suicide bombing in Northern Nigeria has been identified and arrested by police following a raid conducted in the Kalmari area of Maiduguri on 31st December 2025.

Shariff Umar was arrested by troops of the Joint Task Force North East ‘Operation HADIN KAI’ (OPHK) along with 14 suspects linked to suicide bombing activities.

A statement released by the agency’s Media Information Officer, Lt. Col. Sani Uba, on January 3 detailed how Umar established structures, roles, and operations of the group.

During the investigation, a suspected suicide bomber currently in custody, Ibrahim Muhammad, identified Shariff Umar (also known as “Yusuf”) as the ringleader and coordinator of the terror network.

That Umar was responsible for recruiting, preparing, directing, and dispatching suicide bombers to assigned targets, as well as coordinating logistics and the delivery of Improvised Explosive Device (IED) components. He was also the one who coordinated the suicide bombing attack at the Gamboru Market Mosque on 24 December 2025, during which his accomplice, Adamu (now deceased), detonated a suicide vest.