Kaduna: suspected terrorist Auta Maikyala arrested at Kagarko hospital while seeking treatment for gunshot wound

Soldiers have arrested a man they describe as a notorious terrorist at a hospital in southern Kaduna State, where he had gone to be treated for a gunshot wound.

According to a statement released on Friday by the acting media information officer of the Joint Task Force (North West), Captain Tamuno Sinivie, the suspect, Auta Maikyala, was picked up on Thursday, 5 November, at a hospital in Kagarko Local Government Area. The hospital was not named.

The military said the arrest followed intelligence and was carried out by troops of Sector 1, Operation Fansan Yamma, working with the Department of State Services (DSS). It claimed that Maikyala had been wounded in a clash with a rival armed group, and that he is linked to attacks on villages, kidnapping and cattle rustling. He is being held while investigations continue, and the allegations against him have not yet been tested in court.

In neighbouring Zamfara State, soldiers swept through three villages in Maradun LGA on the same day, Tunga Magaji, Aljummu Fulani and Aljummu Hausa, and the military says several hideouts were destroyed. No figures for arrests or casualties were given.

The Nigerian Air Force also bombed targets in Maru LGA, at Babban Doka and in the Kuyumbana Forest, which the military links to the wanted terrorist leader Dogo Gide, after intelligence that fighters were gathering there to plan attacks. The results of the strikes have not been disclosed.

The task force urged residents to keep giving security agencies timely information about suspicious people in their communities. The claims in this story come from the military and could not be independently verified.