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Several suspected Boko Haram collaborators have been arrested for involvement in the kidnapping of almost 300 schoolgirls in Nigeria.
Among them is a businessman, Babuji Ya’ari, based in Maiduguri who allegedly helped the Islamist insurgents plan several attacks and murders under the cover of a pro-government vigilante group fighting Boko Haram.
Two women were also arrested, with one accused of coordinating payments to other “operatives”.
A defence spokesman, Major General Chris Olukolade, said Ya’ari used his membership of the pro-government group “as a cover, while remaining an active terrorist”.
“His main role in the group is to spy and gather information for the terrorists,” he added.
The Major General claimed the man had coordinated several deadly attacks in Maiduguri since 2011 and was involved in the killing of a traditional ruler, the Emir of Gwoza.
Nigeria Defence spokesman, Major General Chris Olukolade (Getty Images) Almost 220 of the abducted girls are still in captivity and a video released earlier this year showed them unharmed but shaking, reciting the Koran.
The students were taken from a school in Chibok, in Borno state, in April and have become a symbol of the Nigerian Government’s failure to protect citizens from the Islamist militants.
Boko Haram’s insurgency, aiming to establish an Islamist state, has killed thousands since 2009 but the bloody murders, bombings and massacres received little attention until the mass kidnapping.
Show all 35 1 /35In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls Nigeria A total of 276 girls were abducted from the northeastern town of Chibok, in Borno state, which has a sizeable Christian community. Some 223 are still missing
In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls Nigeria One of the kidnapped girls looks into a camera
In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls Nigeria One of the missing girls talking to the camera
In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls Nigeria The missing Nigerian schoolgirls, wearing the full-length hijab and praying in an undisclosed rural location. Boko Haram alleging they had converted them to Islam
In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls Nigeria Girls wearing the full-length hijab holding a flag reading "There is no god, but Allah" and "Mohammed is Allah's prophet"
In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls Nigeria A man claiming to be the leader of Nigerian Islamist extremist group Boko Haram Abubakar Shekau
In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls Nigeria Abubakar Shekau speaks on the video
In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls Nigeria Girls, wearing the full-length hijab and praying are filmed by an unidentified man (R) in an undisclosed rural location
In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls Nigeria Soldiers lead the way as Chibok residents carry placards to protest the abduction of the missing schoolgirls in Maiduguri
In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls Nigeria People carry signs as they attend a protest demanding the release of abducted secondary school girls in the remote village of Chibok in Lagos
In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls UK Demonstrators hold banners as they protest about the kidnapping of girls in Nigeria, near the Nigerian High Commission in London
In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls UK A protester demonstrates against the kidnapping of school girls in Nigeria, outside the Nigerian Embassy in London
In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls UK Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour and Prime Minister David Cameron appearing on the BBC1 current affairs programme
In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls USA People participate in a "Bring Back Our Girls" campaign demonstration and candlelight vigil in Los Angeles
In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls USA Girls holding heart shaped banners in a "Bring Back Our Girls" campaign demonstration and candlelight vigil in Los Angeles
In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls South Africa South Africans protest in solidarity against the abduction of hundreds of schoolgirls in Nigeria by the Muslim extremist group Boko Haram and what protesters said was the failure of the Nigerian government and international community to rescue them, during a march to the Nigerian Consulate in Johannesburg
In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls South Africa The kidnapping has ignited a viral social media campaign that has brought renewed attention to Boko Haram's campaign of violence, and protests around the world
In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls South Africa Some of the hundreds of protests demonstrate outside the Nigeria Consulate to bring attention to the girls abducted in Nigeria, Johannesburg
In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls South Africa South Africans from various civil society organisations protest in support of the Nigerian abducted Chibok school girls outside the South African parliament in Cape Town
In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls Sri Lanka Participants chant slogans and hold placards during a protest to demand the return of hundreds of school girls abducted by the Boko Haram separatist group at the World Conference on Youth 2014, hosted by Sri Lanka in Colombo
In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls USA Karilyn Coates (10) joins others in a candlelight vigil for the more than 300 girls abducted by Boko Haram in Nigeria, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Colorado Springs
In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls USA Mia Kuumba, of the District of Columbia, brandishes a wooden stick during a rally in front of the Nigerian embassy in northwest Washington
In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls Nigeria Mothers of the missing Chibok school girls abducted by Boko Haram Islamists gather to receive informations from officials. Nigeria's president said that Boko Haram's mass abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls would mark a turning point in the battle against the Islamists, as world powers joined the search to rescue the hostages
In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls Nigeria Nana Shettima, the wife of Borno Governor, Kashim Shettima (C) weeps as she speaks with school girls from the government secondary school Chibok that were kidnapped by the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram, and later escaped in Chibok
In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls Nigeria Leader of Chibok community in Abuja Hosea Sambido (R) raises a newspaper reporting the death of two of the abducted Chibok school girls during a rally pressing for the girls' release in Abuja, ahead of World Economic Forum
In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls Nigeria Femi Falana, a lawyer and human rights activist (C) leads a mass-demonstration calling on the government to increase efforts to rescue the hundreds of missing kidnapped school girls of a government secondary school Chibok in Lagos
In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls Nigeria Members of Lagos based civil society groups shout slogans calling for the release of missing Chibok school girls at the state government house in Lagos
In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls Nigeria The Islamist group Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for abducting over 200 girls from their school in Chibok, Borno state. Nigerian police offered a reward of 50 million naira (about 310,000 US dollar) to anyone providing a lead on the whereabouts of the more than 200 school girls abducted by Islamist extremist group Boko Haram. Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has accepted an offer of help from the United States in tracking down and fighting the terrorists, US officials said
In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls Nigeria Nigerians protest over the government's failure to rescue the abducted Chibok school girls in Port Harcourt
In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls Nigeria Former Nigerian Education Minister and Vice-President of the World Bank's Africa division (3rd L) Obiageli Ezekwesilieze speaks as she leads a march of Nigeria women and mothers of the kidnapped girls of Chibok, calling for their freedom in Abuja
In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls Bring Back Our Girls Michelle Obama tweeted a picture of her supporting the #BringBackOurGirls campaign
Twitter
In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls Bring Back Our Girls Malala joined calls for the kidnapped girls to be found
Twitter/Malala Fund
In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls Bring Back Our Girls Leona lewis supports #BringBackOurGirls campaign
In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls Bring Back Our Girls Kelly Hoppen tweeted: 'Please make sure you do this, we must stand together and not forget them'
In pictures: Nigeria kidnapped schoolgirls Bring Back Our Girls E.L. Rock Star tweeted: 'Join The Movement'
It sparked a viral social media campaign, #bringbackourgirls, which led to support for the Nigerian Government from the US and Britain but international attention has again waned .
A bomb in a busy market in Maiduguri on Monday killed at least 20 people in the latest suspected attack by Boko Haram.
A separate explosion at a busy intersection in the northern city of Kaduna on Tuesday wounded two people but caused no deaths.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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