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Abuja — Leo, Nigeria Pentagon Chief of Staff Irabor said Tuesday that five suspects had been arrested in an attack by Islamist militants at a Catholic church that killed 40 people in early June.
Nigerian officials said: A rebel group, the Islamic State of West Africa (ISWAP), said it suspected the massacre of its followers inside St. Francis Catholic Church in Ondo province on June 5.
ISWAP is insurgent in the northeast but claims to have carried out attacks far from its enclave, raising concerns that ISWAP is expanding its footprint in Nigeria. is occurring.
Irabor said in a statement in Abuja that the attackers were arrested during a joint operation involving the military, security services and police. He did not say when or where he was arrested.
He said the suspect could not be marched because the investigation was ongoing.
"I would like to say that in time the world will see them and others behind other audacious attacks in this country," said Irabar.
Ondo governor Alakunling Akeledru said a person who had provided accommodation to the suspects prior to the attack was also arrested.
ISWAP has claimed responsibility for his series of low-level attacks and daring jailbreaks in Abuja in early July that freed more than 400 prisoners. (Additional reporting and writing by McDonald Ziltuwe of Lagos ed. by Mark Heinrich, Bernadette Baum and Raissa Kasorofsky)
