FORMER Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Minister, Malam Nasir
El-Rufai and immediate past Chief of Army Staff, Lt-General Azubuike
Ihejirika (rtd), Thursday, 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 Vanguard 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".
Vanguard
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