Islamic fundamentalist sect, Boko Haram, has claimed responsibility for the killing of a reporter with the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) Maiduguri Network Centre, Zakariyya Isa, saying that his murder was not a case of mistaken identity but that of a carefully planned and executed killing by the sect. The group also claimed responsibility for Saturday night’s multiple attacks on a police station and banks in Saminaka, Kaduna State as well as last week’s attack on a riot police barracks in Kwami, Gombe State.
The group said Zakariyya was killed because “he was an informant of security agencies”. The Spokesman of the group, Abul- Qaqa told journalists that, “Zakariyya was not killed in error. We killed him because he was spying on us.” There were earlier speculations that Zakariyya was a victim of “mistaken identity” because this is the first time that a journalist was killed since the beginning of the violence in Maiduguri, but Abul-Qaqa said the killing was “carefully planned and executed.” Qaqa stressed: “We have ample evidence beyond reasonable doubt that he was giving vital information to security agencies on our modusoperandi. We investigated thoroughly before we killed him. He gave information to security agents that led to the arrest of many of our members.
We sent him a text and told him that we would visit him. We killed him not because he was a journalist, but because of his personal misconduct. His actions were against the ethics of his profession.” Qaqa explained. Qaqa also added that his group has no qualms with journalists who conduct themselves professionally in the course of their duties. “And I want to tell you that we have no grudge against journalists that are working in line with the professional provisions of their work. Whenever they misquote or misrepresent our position, we normally call them and tell them to correct the error,” Qaqa said.
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