A team of the Department of State Service(DSS) raided the residence of Malam Tukur Mamu, the Publisher of Kaduna-based Desert Herald and Media Consultant to controversial Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, who withdrew as one of the negotiators between the terrorists that attacked the March 28 Abuja-Kaduna bound AK-9 train passengers.
A source familiar with the matter said that the heavily armed DSS personnel stormed Mamu’s residence and the office of the Desert Herald Newspaper at about 12:30 am on Thursday.
It was gathered that the officers ransacked every nook and cranny of the house and carted away laptops, phones and documents.
The sources, however, said nothing incriminating was found in both the residence as well as the office.
According to him, no fewer than 50 heavily armed operatives in Toyota Hilux, Toyota Highlander as well as military vehicles raided both the residence and office.
He added that the two wives of the ex-negotiator that were with him when he was arrested, were brought back to the house, but his two sons “are still with him in detention.”
He said, “The heavily armed operatives came and they searched everywhere both at the residence and his office but nothing suspicious was found during the operation that started at about 12.30am
“Over 50 of them came in, fully armed with sophisticated weapons in Army vehicles, Toyota Hilux, and Toyota Highlander. Two wives that were with him (Mamu) were returned but his two sons, Faisal and Ibrahim are still with him in detention. They seized our phones and laptops computers.”
Mamu was arrested in Cairo, the Egyptian capital, on Tuesday.
The terrorists’ negotiator was said to have been arrested in Egypt alongside his family members.
The DSS had also claimed that the negotiator was said to be on his way to Saudi Arabia for the lesser Hajj when he was detained at the Cairo International Airport.
Confirming the arrest, the Management of the Desert Herald Newspaper, said the arrest was an attempt to intimidate its publisher.
In a statement on Wednesday by its Head, Special Projects, Ibrahim Mada, the management accused the Federal government of contriving the arrest, deportation of Mamu from Egypt to Nigeria.
The statement read, “His patriotic mission to ensure the safety of the hapless passengers made him a target of blackmail by unscrupulous elements in the government who are hell bent in punishing him for this noble but dangerous sacrifice for the fatherland. Such threats and intimidations have forced him to reveal on a number of times that his life was under serious threat.
“Due to numerous threats to his life and conspiracy from the side of security agents to frame him, he withdrew from the said negotiations but from his latest sojourn, it appears that those who are desperately praying for his head are still hell-bent in carrying out their odious dastardly plans.
“But it is our fervent hope that the evil machination of these desperate elements will be nixed by the fact that Allah is always by the side of the oppressed. This evil machination like the ones before it, shall also come to pass,” the statement read in part.
It would be recalled that some blood-thirsty terrorists attacked the Abuja-Kaduna bound AK9 train on March 28, and abducted some passengers.
The terrorists planted explosive devices along the rail track and when the train approached the point, the device exploded, causing the train to derail, leading to the death of eight passengers.
