A Boko Haram leader suspected of being involved in the abduction of hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls has been arrested, the country's military said Tuesday.
Nigeria's military arrested the suspect during a raid on a Boko Haram stronghold believed to be connected to the missing schoolgirls, according to a military statement obtained by the BBC.
The suspect, a businessman named Babuji Ya'ari, is said to have helped the militant group orchestrate several attacks, including the murder of a traditional leader as well as the April 14 kidnappings of over 200 schoolgirls from their boarding school in Borno state.
According to the military's statement, the businessman acted as a spy for Boko Haram while he worked with a civilian vigilante group set up to battle the militants. Ya'ari is also accused of playing a hand in the shooting death of the high-ranking leader Emir of Gwoza in May.
Vigilante groups have sprung up amidst what critics say is a lack of effort from Nigeria's military to return the still missing girls. The Islamic group has said it would release the girls, but only if the government frees its jailed militants.
Nigeria's government has maintained it will not negotiate with the terrorists as violence continues to spread across the country. On Tuesday, at least 20 people were killed when a bomb in a van exploded in a crowded market in the Borno state capital of Maiduguri, Reuters reported.
Over 2,000 people have died this year in attacks said to be carried out by Boko Haram, the BBC reported. The group, which the U.S. classified as terrorists in 2013, wants to form an Islamic state in northern Nigeria.
Two other women were also arrested during Tuesday's raid, according to Reuters.
Ya'ari, of Maiduguri, has neither admitted nor denied the accusations against him.
Reports of his connection to the kidnappings could not be independently verified, the BBC reported.
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