Security operatives say Tukur Mamu, the bandits negotiator, his allegedly involved in ransom racketeering.
Recall that the Kaduna-based publisher was arrested on Tuesday by security operatives in Cairo, on his way to Saudi Arabia
Some of the security sources said beyond his relationship with insurgents in Nigeria, Mamu was also arrested because of his “Strong ties with a terror group in Sinai area in Egypt”.
Mamu denied wrongdoing saying he was on a legitimate journey to Saudi Arabia.
The Kaduna publisher was involved in the controversial negotiations that led to the release of several abducted passengers of the March 28 Abuja-Kaduna train attack.
He was arrested and whisked away by security operatives shortly after the Egypt Airline, which returned him from Cairo touched down at the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) at 1:55pm.
Nigerian authorities have been accused of not doing enough to secure the release of kidnap victims whenever such incidents occur, a development that makes it necessary for desperate families to devise other means, including ransom payments to liberate their loved ones for fear of being killed.
And this is what brought Mamu to the limelight as he openly and severally declared that he secured the release of most of the train victims even though he persistently denied collecting ransom from families of the victims and taking them to the terrorists.
The Department of State Services (DSS) said yesterday that Mamu is in its custody. Peter Afunanya, the spokesman for the agency confirmed this in a statement.
“The DSS has been inundated with enquires in respect of the arrest or otherwise of Tukur Manu, the self-acclaimed Kaduna train hostage negotiator. This is to confirm that Manu, as a person of interest, was intercepted by Nigeria’s foreign partners in Cairo, Egypt on 6th September 2022 while on his way to Saudi Arabia. He has since been returned to the country, today, 7th September 2022 and taken into the Service’s custody.
‘Mamu on international watch list’
A source in one of the intelligence outfits in Nigeria said Mamu’s arrest was beyond his activities in Nigeria.
“He was arrested in Egypt based on Advance Passenger Information (API) because he came under international security scrutiny following his activities here at home and beyond the shores of Nigeria shortly after the Kaduna train attack,” Daily Trust quoted the source as saying.
“I can assure you that Mamu has high linkage with terror groups in Egypt, especially in Sinai and by extension Libya, the Sahel and other parts of West Africa on this side, and the middle- east on the other side.
“He has collected over N2bn in ransom for terrorists with some of the payments made in US dollars by desperate families and negotiated the release of their loved ones…We have been monitoring all his activities and evidence abound to hold him to account,” he said.