The mysterious white man captured by Nigerian soldiers during last week’s storming of Boko Haram’s headquarters in the Sambisa Forest is a Frenchman and he specialises in repairing and unlocking armoured personnel vehicles and other fighting equipment, according to Daily Trust quoting authoritative military sources. It credited the sources as disclosing that the white man’s identity is being concealed by the Federal Government and military authorities for diplomatic reasons.

President Muhammadu Buhari had on Friday announced that Boko Haram’s last stronghold in the Sambisa forest, Borno State, was overrun by troops on Thursday, December 22.

Soldiers who took part in the operation said yesterday that the white man arrested in Sambisa Forest has been providing “credible information” to military authorities.

Daily Trust quoted a source as saying: “He was arrested along the Bama axis of the Sambisa Forest and agreed to give vital information provided he would be spared. I learnt that he is from France but authorities do not want to make his real identity known for diplomatic reasons…They don’t want to jeopardise the success recorded.”

The report said that the French Embassy in Nigeria did not respond to email and text message sent to it on the issue.

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