Nigeria says it has broken up one of the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram’s intelligence cells and arrested its leaders.  Officials say the unit is linked to the April kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls from Chibok town as well as the assassination of a local leader, the Emir of Gwoza.

The leader of the Boko Haram cell is identified as Babuji Ya’ari, a local businessman who allegedly served as a double agent, openly assisting the army and secretly giving its secrets to Boko Haram.  The military claims Ya’ari is neck-deep in the Chibok abductions.

“The arrest of the businessman who is known to deal in tricycles has also yielded some vital information and facilitated the arrest of other members of the terrorists’ intelligence cell who are women,” the military said.

Boko Haram’s drive to carve out its own Islamist state based on Sharia Law has killed thousands of people since 2009, but this year has been the bloodiest.  Since 1 January, more than 2,000 people have been killed.