SSS quizzes Zannah over alleged Boko Haram links

 Senator Khlaifa Ahmad Zannah was, Monday, quizzed for over six hours by operatives of the State Security Service, SSS, over his alleged links with the Islamic sect, Boko Haram.

Zannah, who represents Borno Central in the upper legislative chambers, was summoned by the SSS Director General, Mr. Ita Ekpenyong, to appear before it, yesterday, to answer questions on what he knows about his nephew, Shuaibu Bama.

Khlaifa Ahmad Zannah

Men of the Joint Task Force, JTF, had reportedly arrested the said Bama, whom they said had been on their wanted list for some time in a house believed to be that of the embattled lawmaker and decided to go after him as well.

A source at the SSS headquarters confirmed to Vanguard that the Senator turned in himself as directed by the leadership of the security agency.

The source, who did not want to be named because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, said he was not sure whether Zannah would be released.

As at 8 p.m. when our correspondent spoke with the source, Zannah was still being held.

The source said: “The man (Zannah has been with us since 2 p.m. and I do not think he will be allowed to go. We need a lot of information from him given his close relationship with the wanted man, Bama, who happens to be his nephew.”

It was not possible to get information from the SSS Deputy Director of Public Relations, Marilyn Ogar, as she neither picked her calls nor responded to text messages sent to her phones.

But before turning in himself to the SSS,  Zannah had told journalists that he knew that his nephew, Shuaibu Bama, arrested by the Joint Task Force for allegedly being one of the commanders of the Boko Haram Islamic sect was of a “bad character” and a “drug addict.”

The lawmaker, who blamed the “mixing of politics with security” for the escalating menace of Boko Haram insurgency in the area, also accused the former governor of the state Ali Modu Sheriff of colluding with the JTF to tarnish his image for political gain.

Zannah said: “I was never told or contacted by anybody that they were looking for Bama. I saw him about six months ago. “He lives around that area although for the past four months, I have not gone home.

I went for an operation outside the country. “I never knew him (Bama) to be a member of Boko Haram. But I know him to be of a bad character and a drug addict.”