A suspect, identified as Ibrahim Mohammed, was arrested on December 29 in Damaturu, Yobe State, by local hunters in collaboration with troops of Operation Hadin Kai. During interrogation, Ibrahim made a series of disturbing confessions about his role in the attack and how he was funded to carry out his duty.
Ibrahim, who said he hails from Michika in Adamawa State, acknowledged his involvement in the bombing and revealed that he was paid as part of his deployment strategy.
“My name is Ibrahim from Michika in Adamawa. We came to Maiduguri to plant bombs in Izala Mosque. We were sent by our leaders, Adamu and Abubakar, who gave us two IEDs to plant in the mosque,” he said during interrogation.
He admitted that his terror cell received payment ranging from ₦70,000 to ₦100,000 per mission.
“I was paid money ranging from N70,000 to N100,000 per mission,” he said as part of his confession.
Providing further chilling details, Ibrahim explained how the attackers deliberately chose their moment to plant explosives.
“We came after *Zuhur and Asr prayers when the mosque was empty. We entered pretending to pray. My colleague was digging to plant the IED in the middle of the mosque while I was digging by the side,” he recounted.
Once the devices were buried, they were set with timers to detonate during maghrib prayers when worshippers would be gathering to pray.
“As Muslim faithful gathered to pray Maghrib, after the first raka’at, we detonated the bomb. We set the timing for five minutes,” Ibrahim said.
In a disturbing twist, he also admitted returning to the scene of devastation and posing as a civilian helper in the aftermath of the explosion.
“When I returned to the mosque, they were evacuating dead bodies. I helped them to convey the corpses and injured people in emergency vehicles,”* Ibrahim confessed.
Despite his participation, Ibrahim told interrogators that he regretted his actions after seeing the civilian toll from the attack.
“I regret my action for killing innocent people who did not commit any crime,” he said.
Security experts, including counterinsurgency analyst Zagazola Makama, have linked him to a broader terror cell planned to carry out coordinated suicide bombings and improvised explosive device (IED) attacks across the Northeast. Those operations, they say, involved elements of Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS), Ansaru, and Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) — all violent extremist groups operating across the region.
It was further revealed that the Boko Haram team involved in the plot, which included a notorious IED expert named Munzir Abu Ziyadah, had prepared up to ten person-borne improvised explosive devices from the Ali Ngulde camp axis before dispersal for attacks.
Following the deadly Gamboru Market Mosque bombing, Ibrahim said he travelled to Yobe State for another assignment: to carry out reconnaissance on military posts and local hunters’ groups, information intended to be used in planning future attacks on recruits and communities.
Ibrahim was arrested at about 2:30 p.m. on December 29 in Damaturu during a raid on a suspected hideout inhabited by Almajirai (itinerant students), after security operatives and local hunters became suspicious of his unusual behaviour. Interrogators confirmed that he was part of a JAS faction operating out of the Mandara Mountains, and that he had entered Maiduguri alongside the operative who detonated the device at the Gamboru Market Mosque.
As the investigation continues, authorities are trying to verify his claims and trace the broader network believed to be orchestrating a surge of coordinated suicide and IED attacks across northeastern Nigeria.
