Leadership (Abuja)
Samuel Aruwan, Uchenna Awom, Goerge Agba, Chizoba Ogbeche, Ahuraka Isah, And Daudu Mbaya
13 July 2011
Former governor of Borno State Senator Ali Modu Sheriff yesterday told President Goodluck Jonathan that against insinuations that he had something to do with Boko Haram, the Islamic religious sect had been in existence before he was elected governor.
He argued that he didn’t apologise to Boko Haram, noting instead that he only apologised to every citizen of Borno State when he was leaving office on May 29.
He said, “You can see that the Boko Haram said that they will stop what they were doing if the governors of Gombe, Bauchi and Borno apologised to them publicly. The two governors have done that publicly. I only lifted from my May 29 speech on what I have done in the last eight years. I said I have served them for eight years; I must have in one way or the other offended people. I ask everybody that I have offended, including Boko Haram to forgive me.
Sheriff denied allegations that he was a facilitator of Boko Haram, even as he maintained that there was no iota of truth that he “was quizzed by the SSS, adding: “In fact, I went there (SSS) on my own”.
When State House correspondents queried his mission to the Presidential Villa, Sherriff said, “I am a former governor and, as a Nigerian, I have the right to seek an appointment to see my commander-in-chief as a past governor in Borno State for eight years. I came to see the president and discuss matters that I felt important to me”.
On reports that former FCT minister and BoT chair of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Gen. Jeremiah Useni (rtd) cautioned him that the idea of youths selling fuel redundantly on the streets could be disastrous, Sheriff said, “This report is not correct. I saw it on the pages of newspapers today. But since I didn’t speak to General Useni, I gave him the benefit of doubt not to comment on it.
“If all the past military and civilian governors in Borno State did not ban the selling of petrol outside petroleum stations, why should I come and ban people who are legitimately earning a living. And there is no responsible government in Borno State or Nigeria that wouldl allow a young man carrying arms on the street and be allowed to sell on the street. So, that report is most unfortunate and I am surprised that somebody like General Useni will make a public statement like this given his age. I respect him and I also believe that he should always be cautious when speaking in public, otherwise, the age he has earned and the position he has earned would be in question, he added.
On military intervention in Borno State, the former governor said, “I left Maiduguri when the JTF went to Maiduguri. But as we know, when there is a problem, people want a solution to the problem they find themselves in. There are many ways of solving a problem.
“But when people are carrying bombs and guns, it is a serious problem that will need a solution that also needs every possible intervention to control the situation. Since I left government, I have not gone to Maiduguri and therefore, I don’t know what they said the JTF has done. So, at my level, I will never make a comment on what I don’t know”.
When reminded that people linked the whole thing to him due to his relationship with his former Commissioner for Religious Affairs, Uji Foi and how he was executed, Sherif said, “No. I want to make this very clear. Uji Foi was a politician. He was a chairman of his own local government before I became the governor. He was out of my cabinet two years before the book Haram crisis, and if everybody that served in my cabinet would do something and I will be responsible for it, then nobody can govern any state in Nigeria.
“Uji Foi was a politician before I became a governor, he was a chairman of his local government, and like any other person, they brought his name from his local government as a nominee and we appointed him commissioner and at a stage, we found that he was not doing what we wanted and we did not reappoint him. Before the incident of Boko Haram, he was not in the government for two years.
“So, we couldn’t have taken responsibility and most importantly, I didn’t know when Uji was arrested or when he was killed and who arrested him and who killed him”.
On why people are fleeing the state because of the crisis, Sheriff said, “The solution is that every citizen of Borno State can help to bring solution to this. I am now an ex-governor and ordinary citizen of the state, so whatever I could do to bring an end to the crisis when I was the governor had been done”.
Almost two years after the Boko Haram leader, Mohammed Yusuf, was arrested and reportedly killed in the police custody, the federal government yesterday brought five out of the seven policemen involved in the alleged extra-judicial killing before a Federal High Court in Abuja for terrorist act.
The suspects, who were brought before Justice Donatus Okorowo include two assistant commissioners of police, a chief superintendent of police, an assistant superintendent of police and a sergeant. They were ACP J. B. Abong, ACP Akera, CSP Mohammed Ahmed, ASP Muazu Garba and Sgt Adamu Gado. Those who were not brought to the court were Police Corporals Anthony Samuel and Linus Luka.
All the accused were said to be serving in Maiduguri police command as at the time the alleged unlawful killing took place.
The alleged killers of the Boko Haram leader were arraigned on a two-count charge for allegedly conspiring with one another to carry out the extra-judicial killing.
The federal government had claimed that the act of the accused amounted to terrorism. It added that the offence was contrary to sections 315 and 516 of the criminal code and punishable under section 15(1)(2) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Act 2004.
The Boko Haram sect yesterday claimed responsibility for the recent attacks on some banks because they were not operating according to islamic principles.
The group’s spokesman Abu Zaid, said the sect had lost only 19 men since June last year and did not plan to attack University of Maiduguri, saying that it would only accept ceasefire if soldiers were removed from Maiduguri.
Meanwhile, the National Security Adviser (NSA), General Patrick Azazi (Rtd), has charged Nigerians to be security conscious.
Addressing newsmen in Abuja yesterday, Azazi said Nigerians must subscribe to security and safety issues, arguing that while security agencies and operatives had primary responsibility of ensuring security and safety of life and property, it was the responsibility of every Nigerian to be conscious of his or her environment.
The security chief blamed politicians for creating ‘monsters’ across the country for political gains, not realizing that over time, they would not have ability to tame such ‘monsters’. Azazi noted that bad governance was also an issue that could threaten security in the society.
He explained that his office was doing public enlightenment programmes in collaboration with the Ministry of Information and Communication and all security agencies in the country.
Azazi also faulted the calls for troops removal from Maiduguri, saying that such demand was not a solution to the terrorism crisis in the state.
France yesterday announced that it is set to partner with Nigeria to find a lasting solution to the security challenge and any other security matter facing the nation.
The French ambassador to Nigeria, Jean Michel Dumond disclosed this in Abuja.
Speaking when he paid a courtesy call on the president of the Senate, David Mark, Dumond promised that his country would partner Nigeria in the area of peace keeping, security and stability of the West African sub-region.
Welcoming the French envoy to his office, the President of the Senate, Senator David Mark expressed appreciation for the concern in Nigeria’s affairs, saying that the support and cooperation was more than ever before needed to tackle the security challenges facing the nation.
Kaduna State Governor Patrick Yakowa yesterday dispatched a team of top government functionaries to Maiduguri, Borno State to bring back the state’s over 200 students trapped in the city, following the closure of the University of Maiduguri and other institutions of higher learning in the troubled state.
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