Tukur Mamu, the lead negotiator between bandits and kidnapped Kaduna-bound train passengers, was reportedly arrested over an alleged two billion naira racketeering.

KEMI FILANI NEWS had earlier reported that Mamu was arrested alongside his family members in Cario, the capital of Egypt, and later flown back to Nigeria.

Mamu said he was arrested and detained at the Cairo International Airport for 24 hours while going to Saudi Arabia for lesser Hajj.

The Department of State Services (DSS) operatives picked up the Kaduna-based publisher and his family members immediately after their plane landed at the Kano airport on Wednesday and took them to Abuja.

According to Daily Trust, security sources said Mamu was arrested for his alleged involvement in collecting ransom and taking same to terrorists in exchange for kidnapped victims.

The security sources said the Kaduna-based publisher’s relationship with insurgents goes beyond the shores of Nigeria. Mamu was said to have “Strong ties with a terror group in the Sinai area in Egypt”.

The publication mentioned above reported that family sources said Mamu was arrested alongside his two wives, Fatima Bashir Mamu and Aisha Salisu Mamu, as well as his eldest son, Faisal Tukur Mamu, and his brother-in-law Ibrahim Hassan Tinja.

Daily Trust reported that a source in an intelligence outfit said Mamu’s arrest was beyond his activities in Nigeria.

“He was arrested in Egypt based on Advance Passenger Information (API) because he came under international security scrutiny following his activities here at home and beyond the shores of Nigeria shortly after the Kaduna train attack,” he said.

“I can assure you that Mamu has high linkage with terror groups in Egypt, especially in Sinai and by extension Libya, the Sahel and other parts of West Africa on this side, and the middle- east on the other side.

“He has collected over N2bn in ransom for terrorists with some of the payments made in US dollars by desperate families and negotiated the release of their loved ones…We have been monitoring all his activities and evidence abound to hold him to account,” he said.

Responding to Mamu’s claim that there was an attempt to treat him like Nnamdi Kanu, the source said, “Egyptian authorities are not subordinated to the dictate of Nigerian authorities. They deported him based on the facts at their disposal and based on global standard.”

Another source said Mamu’s activities was monitored for long before he was flagged both at home and abroad. “Can he tell the world his legitimate source of income to justify his lifestyle? Had it been we wanted, we could have picked him in his house in Kaduna but because what he is doing has global implications, we allowed the international law to take its cause.”

A security source disclosed that Mamu was scheduled to meet with some persons believed to be leaders of the terrorists who conducted the Kaduna train attack.  

“He scheduled many things in his itinerary including a medical check-up and lesser hajj but we believed it was just a decoy for him to carry out nefarious activities. He plans to end up in Dubai where he has made a rendezvous with those people,” he said. 

The source said that there was fear over what could be the outcome of the planned meeting after the communication between Mamu and the suspected terrorist leaders were intercepted.

He added that there are many allegations against Mamu around the ransom paid for the release of the Kaduna train passengers. 

“There are reported inconsistencies between monies paid and what was actually remitted to the kidnappers. He is also seen as pandering too much to the side of the terrorists than the people and government. What pained us was the recent move to pay N25 million to secure the release of the remaining 23 persons but at the last minute, he thwarted the arrangement insisting on a much higher figure.”