20 BOKO HARAM LEADERS ARRESTED ~

The DSS – Department of State Service’s has arrested 20 suspected leaders of the sect across the Nigeria.

Nigeria's security agency said on Sunday it had made significant breakthroughs in the fight against Boko Haram and arrested 20 prominent members of the militant Islamist group accused of orchestrating deadly attacks.

They are Usman Shuaibu (a.k.a. Money) Ahmed Mohammed (a.k.a. Abubakar), Adamu Abubakar, (a.k.a. Baba), Ibrahim Musa, Mustapha Yusuf (a.k.a. Mohammed Sanni), Bakura Modu, Mustapha Ali Jamner, Abuji Sheriff, Babagana Ali, Babagana Soloy, Abba Modu Sagma, Grema Abubakar and Tijani Bagudu.

Others are Baba Alhaji, Abbas Ibrahim, Ibrahim Audu, Ibrahim Haruna, Mallam Ali Mohammodu, Adam Waki Abdul Jilbe and Mohammed Usman.

The Department of State Services (DSS) said on Sunday that 20 "notable commanders and frontline members" of the jihadist group had been arrested in Lagos, Kano, Plateau, Enugu and Gombe states between July 8 and Aug. 25 this year.

The DSS said it had arrested those suspected of co-ordinating attacks earlier this year in the northern cities of Potiskum, Kano and Zaria, as well as the central city of Jos, adding that a number of them had made confessions.

"This followed the rounding up of notable commanders and frontline members of the notorious group from different parts of the country," DSS spokesman Tony Opuiyo said in a statement.

Providing an unusual level of detail, the DSS said one of those arrested, Usman Shuaibu, had confessed to leading a team of nine militants which planned several attacks. Others were accused of ordering attacks, preparing bombs and strapping explosives to suicide bombers.

"The arrest of Usman Shuaibu, aka. Money, and the core members of his cell, stemmed the spate of bombings by the extremist sect," said Opuiyo.

Boko Haram's campaign to create a state adhering to strict Islamic law in the northeast of Africa's most populous country has left thousands dead and forced around 1.5 million people to flee their homes since 2009.

The insurgents scattered earlier this year after an army counter-offensive, but have since returned to a strategy of selective attacks in which they have bombed or fired on targets in public places such as markets and places of worship.

Opuiyo said the geographical spread of the arrests suggested the militants were moving beyond their usual targets in the northeast to other areas, including Lagos state.

On Saturday, the DSS said it had uncovered a spy cell run by militants at the international airport in the capital Abuja, apparently aimed at selecting targets for attack.