Former Federal Capital Territory,
Abuja, Minister, Malam Nasir El-Rufai and immediate past Chief of Army
Staff, Lt-General Azubuike Ihejirika (rtd), have accused each other of
sponsoring the deadly Boko Haram sect that has been terrorising many
parts of northern Nigeria since 2011 with over 5000 people killed.
El-Rufai kick-started the
accusations on his Facebook page with a post that read: “Breaking News:
Sheriff and Ihejirika Just Named as Boko Haram Kingpins – Arise TV –
August 28, 2014.’’
He said: “Australian hostage
negotiator, Stephen Davis has just named former Borno Governor Ali
Modu-Sheriff and immediate past Chief of Army Staff Lt-Gen Ihejirika
(removed in January 2014) as the Boko Haram brains on ARISE NEWS.
“Davis said Boko Haram commanders
that he has been negotiating with were the source of this information.
The kingpins not only finance Boko Haram operations but select targets
for assassination and execution. Finally, the truth about Boko Haram is
coming out. Hopefully, the murderers of General Muhammadu Shuwa, the
abductors of the Chibok girls, those truly responsible for the Nyanya
bombings, and attempted assassination of General Buhari and Sheikh
Dahiru Bauchi will be known.
“We hope the authorities will take
the steps necessary to act on this revelation, and thereby discharge
their duty to protect us, the citizens of Nigeria. That is just what it
is, a hope!”
Reacting to the accusation, General
Ihejirika countered that El-Rufai, who is a chieftain of the opposition
All Progressives Congress, APC, is one of the front-line commanders of
the terrorist group
Speaking with newsmen over
El-Rufai’s allegation, Ihejirika said he is not surprised that this
unimaginable allegation is coming from ‘one of the Boko Haram
Commanders’ because “The (Commanders) including El-Rufai know where the
problem is. He should stop deceiving Nigerians by trying to divert
attention.”
According to Ihejirika, “When the
Boko Haram operation started, supporters of the sect like El-Rufai said
that there was nothing like Boko Haram and that the army was just
killing innocent youths. If you also remember, not too long ago, some
of their supporters including El-Rufai said that I was re-inventing the
killing of the Ibos during the Biafra war following government’s
determination to rid the country of terrorism.”
An obviously angry Ihejirika, who
spoke on phone, said: “The likes of El-Rufai started the campaign of
human right abuses in order to divert international attention from the
heinous crime being committed by the Boko Haram terrorists.”
Ihejirika recalled recent
allegations that he took away N48 billion, an amount of money he said is
still in the coffers of the Ministry of Defence and can be verified by
anybody, adding that he was not surprised that this allegation is coming
from the likes of El-Rufai who started the campaign.
“The likes of El-Rufai have been
supporting Boko Haram. In fact, El-Rufai and his likes are the same
group of people that ensured the army did not get the requested
equipment to deal with this menace once and for all, as they used their
cohorts to tell the government that procuring modern equipment was not
necessary.”
Recalling that the same El-Rufai
went to This Day Newspaper premises to grant interview to condemn
security forces for the efforts to rid the country of the senseless
mayhem unleashed by the terrorists, Ihejirika said: “At the onset of
this crisis, I was the first person to declare that the country was at
war but a group of sponsors led by El-Rufai disagreed, saying that it
was not true.
“It is the same group of El-Rufai
that started the human rights abuses campaign. It was done in order to
block any international assistance after the state of emergency was
declared and the sect was initially tamed. That gave Boko Haram time and
respite to build up again”.
Furthermore, General Ihejirika said
that when the United States was to initially declare Boko Haram a
terrorist organization, the same El-Rufai and his group mounted pressure
on the international community, using alleged human rights abuses as
campaign strategy.
The former Army Chief revealed that
this same group including El-Rufai has taken further steps in support of
Boko Haram, “which I cannot disclose for now”.
Shortly after his tenure came to an
end as COAS, some Northern political elites started the crusade for
General Ihejirika to be summoned before the International Criminal Court
in the Hague claiming that he killed their sons and daughters
innocently in the name of containing the rapid spread of Boko Haram
insurgency in the country.
He not only established the 7th
Division of the Nigerian Army with headquarters in Maiduguri, he
established new Army Brigades, Counter Terrorism Schools in Kachia and
Jaji as well as the Terrorism Training School.
A screenshot of El-Rufai’s post on his Facebook wall below...
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