Lagos-based lawyer, Femi Falana, has given the Federal Government seven days to prosecute former Borno State Governor, Senator Ali Modu Sherriff, for allegedly sponsoring Boko Haram or face his wrath.
The human rights lawyer said that he would personally apply for a writ of mandamus for Sherriff and others to be investigated and be prosecuted after the expiration of the week-long ultimatum.
Falana expressed annoyance at the way Sherriff had used his closeness to the Presidency to perverse justice.
“Owing to the connection of Alhaji Sheriff with the Presidency, the security agencies have failed to implement the directives of the Federal Government which were handed down since May 2012,” he decried.
Falana however insisted that Sherriff could not extricate himself from the activities of the group, having been identified with individuals who played key role in the formation and spread of the virulent group.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), dismissed Sherriff’s claim of non-involvement with the group, saying there was enough evidence from the reports of committees raised by the Federal Government on the sect to prove that the former governor had a hand in the dastardly activities of the group.
He asked the former governor to explain to Nigerians, the basis of the appointment of Alhaji Buji Foi, a Boko Haram leader as the Commissioner of Religious Affairs in Borno State.
Falana said it was curious that Buji Foi, who resigned from the Sheriff government and joined the Boko Haram sect,was extra-judicially killed after his arrest by the soldiers.
He also said that as the Chief Security Officer in Borno State at the material time, the ex-governor should open up on the circumstances of the extra judicial killing of Muhammed Yusuff and his father-in-law, Alhaji Kuba.
The lawyer pointed out that before the latest revelation by Stephen Davis, the Goodluck Jonathan Administration had set up the Ambassador Usman Galtimari Panel to investigate the genesis of the insurgency in the North East, which traced the origin of Boko Haram to politicians, who used them as thugs for political purposes.
Quoting one of the recommendations of the Presidential Panel, Falana wrote: “The Report traced the origin of private militias in Borno State in particular, of which Boko Haram is an offshoot, to politicians who set them up in the run-up to the 2003 general elections. The militias were allegedly armed and used extensively as political thugs.
“After the elections and having achieved their primary purpose, the politicians left the militias to their fate since they could not continue funding and keeping them employed. With no visible means of sustenance, some of the militias gravitated towards religious extremism, the type offered by Mohammed Yusuf.”
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