"We caught them before they could bring out their guns. After we succeeded in disarming them, we beat them blue and black before handing them over to the soldiers," a grocery merchant in Maiduguri, Babagana Aji, 36, said.
"It was a trader that alerted us when he saw them and we immediately trailed and rounded them up."
According to an eyewitness report, the Boko Haram suspects were spotted by a trader as soon as they entered the market and he saw weapons hidden under their garments.
The traders were taking no chances of being gunned down even after Boko Haram declared war on Borno youths for exposing their hideouts and handing them over to the authorirties.
The Vanguard reports:
This is even as suspected sect members, yesterday evening, detonated an Improvised Explosive Devise, EID, in the metropolis, targeting the patrol vehicle of the JTF, in spite of the emergency rule imposed on Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states, and the total ban on the use of GSM and Thuraya Satellite cell phones in the troubled states.
Another trader, Sanusi Dantakai, said Gamboru traders had had it up their neck and were forced to take the bull by the horns.
He said: "This Gamboru market had suffered several attacks. Boko Haram has set it on fire twice and killed several traders and an orange vendor, among others.
"We are tired of the losses we incur at every attack carried out by Boko Haram. That was why we summoned courage to catch them today."
Meanwhile, the sound of the explosion, which occurred at 6:30pm in the metropolis forced residents and traders to rush back to their houses to avoid being caught in the 6pm to 9pm curfew imposed on the state.
Due to the total network black out, spokesman of the JTF, Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa and the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Gideon Jubrin, could not be reached for confirmation at the time of going to press.
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