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| Fani Kayode |
Erstwhile Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Azubuike Ihejirika, has described the allegation of sponsorship of the Boko Haram sect leveled against him by Dr. Stephen Davis as frivolous and
unfounded. He said the careless allegation was meant to divert the attention of the country and its
security agencies and also divide the country along religion and ethnic lines.
In a chat with journalists at the National Defence College, Abuja on Friday, Ihejirika warned against giving undue attention to the Australian’s claims.
He suggested that such allegation would have been dismissed if it was made in a developed country like the United States or the United Kingdom. The ex-Army boss added that some people considered his handling of the counter insurgency campaign high-handed, saying he owed such people no apologies.
His words: “If this accusation was made in a country like US or UK, it would not be discussed for one hour because they would wave it aside. But they are exploiting our traditional fault lines, a multi-religious multi ethnic, multi-cultural and young democracy, so what they have tried to do is aimed at achieving what they could not achieve. I have chosen to do this because we cannot allow national security to be toyed with; the need for security awareness in spite of the effort I put in at time and the effort being put by the current leadership of the Armed Forces, the need for security awareness still persists.”
“I want to urge all Nigerians to join hands to support Mr. President and members of the Armed Forces in their onerous task to rid this country of
terrorism. I want to further advise that baseless, unfounded and frivolous allegations like this have the capacity of diverting our attention, away from
the main problem. Nigeria must exist before you can hold a single political office and there is no compromise in the effort to have a peaceful and united Nigeria. Therefore, I have no apologies at all whatsoever to those who thought I was high handed.
“I used to explain to them that the Nigerian Army is not high handed, but every Army makes a lot of efforts to ensure that its troops operate within the rule of engagement.” Ihejirika recalled that his leadership recruited 9000 soldiers in 2013 to beef up the strength of the military and to monitor the borders more effectively. He urged Nigerians to avoid utterances that could bring down the morale of Nigerian troops, a situation which he warned, could be dangerous.
The retired senior officer pointed out that terrorists were waging a media warfare to achieve what they had not achieved through violence. He further
reiterated that he remained unshaken by the attention given to the allegation because of his belief that “we are yet to come to terms with the motives of the terrorists
- DailyPost
The Nigerian Government has denied hiring Australia’s Stephen Davis as a Boko Haram negotiator.
The Coordinator of the National Information Centre, Mike Omeri, who disclosed government’s position on the issue in Abuja on Friday, said the government has no plan of prosecuting any Nigerian for now following the allegations made by the Australian.
Davis has insisted that former governor of Borno State, Ali Modu Sheriff and former Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika are Boko Haram sponsors.
He also mentioned an unnamed senior official of the Central Bank of Nigeria and an Egypt-based man as those funding the sect.
Davis, who refused to disclose the identity of the CBN official, said his allegations were informed by discussions he had with several Boko Haram field commanders.
But Omeri insisted that government has not hired anybody to negotiate on its behalf with the Boko Haram.
“For now nobody has been hired by the government to negotiate on its behalf with Boko Haram. Anytime the
government decides to do so, it will make it known to the public.
“The government is still investigating the allegations made by the alleged negotiator. However, the government has no plan to question anybody because of those allegations made by the Australian,” he stated.
- The Nation
Opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) may have come under the spotlight of the British government over allegations that it has links with the dreaded Boko Haram terrorist group. Feelers from the British parliament gave this indication at the weekend.
Reports had it that the United Kingdom (UK)’s Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (otherwise known as foreign secretary), Mr William Hague, was, last week, questioned by an influential member of the British parliament, Mr Andrew Rosindell, on the UK’s engagement with the APC over the Boko Haram problem confronting Nigeria.
Information pieced together by Sunday Tribune from the website of the British parliament, www.parliament.uk, indicated that Rosindell, a conservative representing Romford, listed numerous questions regarding terrorism in Nigeria and some other affected countries of the Commonwealth for the foreign sectary, under “notices for written answers” section of the House of Commons Business Paper.
Some of the questions Rosindell, who is also a member of Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons, want Hague to answer, according to the Business Paper, are: “To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the rise of Islamic terrorism in Northern Iraq.
“To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the rise in Islamic terrorism in Nigeria. (204387)
“To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support his Department plans to offer to Nigeria in tackling the threat of Boko Haram.
“To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of links between Boko Haram and other Islamic extremist groups in Africa.
“To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will discuss with his counterpart in Cameroon the need for constructive dialogue between that country and Nigeria in tackling Boko Haram; and if he will make a statement.
“To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his US counterpart on tackling the threat from Islamic extremism in Northern Africa.
“To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions (a) he and (b) other Ministers in his Department have had with leading members of the Nigerian opposition party, the All Progressives Congress; and if he will make a statement.
“ To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will commission an inquiry into the international support network for Boko Haram in Nigeria and Cameroon; and if he will make a statement.”
Reports added that the development came after a debate in the parliament in which a Labour member, Sandra Osborne asked the House to examine allegations of links between APC and the insurgents.
It was also noted that increasing questioning of the government of the UK by legislators over the issue may force an enquiry into the allegations.
Sunday Tribune also learnt that at a recent meeting of the parliamentarians, led by Henry Jackson Society and chaired by John Glen, who is a close adviser to Prime Minister David Cameron, similar allegations were raised that key APC members were supporters and financiers of Boko Haram “for ideological and political means.”
The UK is now said to be showing more interest in the Boko Haram menace, especially after the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls in April.
Hague, at an international summit on rape in warzones held in London in June, was said to have reaffirmed the UK’s “strong and united commitment to defeat Boko Haram and to end the scourge of terrorism in Nigeria.”
When Sunday Tribune contacted, the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, for reaction, he said the party was still studying the development, adding that it would react to the allegations appropriately in due course.
Courtesy:
Tribune Newspaper
