Profile: Who is Auwalun Daudawa, repentant notorious bandits’ leader from Katsina
Auwalun Daudawa, 43, was an armed robber and a cattle rustler before he turned to gun-running, security sources said.
He began bringing in weapons from Libya, where he had received training from jihadists, selling them to bandits, the sources told AFP.
He forged an alliance with Boko Haram and became their gunrunner, taking weapons the group seizes from the Nigerian security forces in raids and ambushes and selling them to bandits.
Following the schoolboys’ abduction, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau claimed responsibility in a video showing some of the children in a bush.
Security sources told AFP the abductions were carried out by Daudawa in collaboration with two bandits with a strong following, on the orders of Shekau.
Daudawa surrendered to officials on Monday with six of his gang members, 20 Kalashnikovs and other weapons.
Daudawa is a medium town in Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina State.
