Officers of Nigeria’s Special Task Force are currently battling to unravel the motive behind a suspicious midnight trip by a group of 51 youths who were intercepted on their way from Maiduguri, capital of the Boko Haram-infested Borno State, to the country’s capital, Abuja.

A statement uploaded last night on the website of the Defence Headquarters said: “Officers of the Special Task Force are currently trying to unravel the motive for the movement of some youths from Maiduguri heading to Abuja at about 3am when they were accosted in Plateau State on Wednesday. Numbering about 51, the youths were under the guidance of a lady as they were being conveyed in 3 eighteen-seater mass transit buses when they were intercepted along Babale in Plateau state as they journeyed from Maiduguri to Abuja in the night.

“During the interrogation that followed, they claimed they were being conveyed to Abuja on the directives of a Borno State Government official to meet their relatives for assistance in an economic empowerment programme. The official is yet to respond to series of efforts to verify the claims.

“The issue is being investigated to ascertain the genuine mission of such a team of young persons moving in the night more so as they have made contradictory statements as to the sponsorship of their mission to Abuja. The movement is being assessed in the light of the security situation and the suspicious claims of the youths.”

A source informed News Express that the youths were Boko Haram suspects but Director of Defence Information, Maj.-Gen. Chris Olukolade, said when contacted last night: “I don’t know of any Boko Haram suspects as you described. All I know is stated in the story posted on our blog: defenceinfo.mil.ng. Please check it out.”

•File photo shows suspected Boko Haram members nabbed elsewhere in the country by security agencies.