Sheik Muyideen Bello, a popular Islamic cleric at the weekend, said it is Nigerian politicians that are sponsoring the Boko Haram terrorist group.
Daily Independent reports that, the cleric made the revelation while speaking at the 5th Annual Ramadan Public Lecture organised by member representing Lagos Mainland Constituency II in the Lagos State House of Assembly, Moshood Oshun, at the Lagos City College, Yaba.
Bello, who also accused politicians of serving their self-interest instead of that of the citizens further accused leaders, especially office holders, of deceiving the masses.
According to him, terrorism which is recently being experienced by the country is a retribution for the bad attitude of the people in general.
Bello, who noted that truth has become a very scarce commodity in Nigeria said: “people now do whatever they like, some politicians are the real terrorists, they rule the people the way they like. There is no truth in them, they worship money, the leaders and the followers are corrupt. It didn’t start today and it will not change if we don’t tell ourselves the truth. We all do what we like and even some religious leaders have compromised because of money. They tell the leaders what they want to hear and not what they should tell them” Bello said.
The cleric who is renowned for is straightforwardness as a preacher, reiterated that whoever refused to tell the truth is a terrorist, say: “and we all live with terrorists in our various homes”.
“Prophet Muhammed was also a president in his own way, and we should all follow his footsteps as he led the people with the fear of God. God says he owns all resources in the country and in the world. I don’t believe we have any special terrorists in the country. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), set up by the government has not been prosecuting people in recent times, those that were arrested for fraud were not even prosecuted, we are all deceiving ourselves,” Bello said.
Boko Haram was founded in 2002, by Mohammed Yusuf, who was reportedly killed extra-judiciously while in police custody. The extremist under the new leadership of Abubakar Shekau, launched its first offensive in 2009, in an attempt to create an Islamic state. The sect initially focused on opposing Western education, as “Boko Haram” means “Western education is a sin” in the Hausa language. The sect was designated a terrorist group by US in 2013.