#WorldNews - Nigeria Missing Girls: Troops Arrest Businessman In Connection With Boko Haram Abductions

[HuffingtonPost]

(Updates with details of arrests)                

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, June 30 (Reuters) - Nigerian troops have  arrested a businessman suspected of being at the head of a Boko  Haram intelligence network that helped plan the abduction of  more than 200 school girls in the northeast, the military said  on Tuesday.                

The man had helped the Islamist militant group plan several  attacks, including the killing of traditional ruler the Emir of  Gwoza, it said in a statement.                

Two women were also arrested as part of the investigation,  one of whom was accused of coordinating payments to other  "operatives".                

A year old intensive military operation against Boko Haram  has so far failed to crush the rebels, whose struggle for an  Islamic state in largely Muslim northern Nigeria has killed  thousands since it was launched in 2009.                

The insurgency has destabilized much of the northeast of  Africa's top oil producer and biggest economy.                

The abduction in mid-April of 276 school girls, 219 of which  remain in captivity, has become a symbol of the government's  powerlessness to protect civilians from attack.                

Defense spokesman Major-General Chris Olukolade said in a  statement that the arrested man used his membership of a  pro-government vigilante group "as a cover, while remaining an  active terrorist".                

Olukolade said the man had coordinated several deadly  attacks in Maiduguri since 2011, including on customs and  military locations as well as the planting improvised bombs.                

Violence has been relentless in northeast Nigeria in  particular, with hundreds killed in the past two months. There  have also been bombings blamed on the militant group in the  capital Abuja.                

On Sunday, the Chibok community was attacked again in three  places. Militants opened fire on churches and homes, killing  dozens and burning houses to the ground.      (Reporting by Lanre Ola Additional reporting by Camillus Eboh  in Abuja; Writing by Tim Cocks Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)
Source: huffingtonPost