Khalid Al-Barnawi, leader of the terrorist group, Ansaru, who masterminded the bombing of the United Nations (UN) headquarters in Abuja in 2011, which killed at least 18 persons, and left nearly 100 severely injured, was among the inmates who escaped from Kuje correctional centre during the attack on the facility on Tuesday night, July 5, 2022.
Al-Barnawi, trained by the Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in Algeria, may have coordinated the Kuje jailbreak from his prison cell, as he is rated very high in terms of his intelligence quotient and organisational capability, according to reports.
He is regarded as one of the most valuable assets of the Boko Haram terrorist sect.
A source stated that the attack on Kuje prison was most likely engineered to set Al-Barnawi free, given his doggedness and commitment to carry out Boko Haram assignments before his incarceration in 2016, People’s Gazette reports.
As a commander, he was notorious for executing other commanders who failed to meet their operational targets, sealing his reputation as a leader who accepted no excuses even from his equals, according to reports.
It was gathered that Al-Barnawi goes by many names, including Abu Hafsat, Mallam Dauda, Alhaji Tanimu Kafuri, Naziru, Alhaji Yahaya, Muhammad Usman and Mohammed Usman, to avoid detection while conducting his criminal operations.
The nation’s State Security Service (SSS) in April 2016 reportedly described Al-Barnawi’s capture in 2016 as “a major milestone in the counter-terrorism fight of this service.”
On June 21, 2012, the U.S. department of state designated Al-Barnawi as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under executive order, according to reports.
The release of Mr Al-Barnawi may signal a significant increase in Boko Haram terrorist activities in Nigeria.
Meanwhile, the U.S. government has already issued a security alert to citizens resident in Abuja and environs to be cautious after the nation’s defence minister, Bashir Magashi, had on Wednesday, July 6, confirmed that the 64 Boko Haram members who escaped from Kuje prison after the attack on Tuesday night were still at large.
