THE umbrella body of the 19 northern governors, the Northern Governors Forum, has called on security agencies to investigate the allegation by the Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress in the 2019 election, Obadiah Mailafia, that a northern governor is the Commander of Boko Haram in Nigeria.
Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State, who is the Chairman of the NGF, said he and his counterparts in the other norther states had been working round the clock to tackle the problem of insecurity in the region, describing the allegation by the former Deputy Governor of the CBN as weighty.
He said for Mailafia “to now say that one of our members is leading Boko Haram in Nigeria is a serious allegation that cannot be swept under the carpet. We demand immediate and thorough investigation.”
In a statement by his Director of Press and Public Affairs, Makut Macham, obtained by The Point, Lalong urged Mailafia and all citizens with useful information on the activities of criminals and terrorist groups to assist security agencies and governments at all levels with such intelligence for proper action.
The NGF Chairman said, “The Northern Governors Forum has called on security agencies to investigate the allegation by a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Dr. Obadiah Mailafia in which he alleged that ‘one of the Northern Governors is the Commander of Boko Haram in Nigeria.’ The Forum is concerned about the weighty allegation made by Dr. Mailafia, which must be thoroughly investigated.
“The Forum, which has been working with the Federal Government, security agencies, community, civil society, traditional and religious leaders as well as development partners to defeat terrorism, banditry and other forms of crimes in the region, finds the allegation by Dr. Mailafia very weighty which deserves further investigation.
“We as Northern Governors have met severally to discuss insecurity in the Northern Region and the nation at large, where we did not only condemn the activities of terrorist groups such as Boko Haram, bandits, armed robbers, kidnappers and other criminals, but also engaged the President and all heads of security agencies in finding solutions to the problem.
“To now say that one of our members is leading Boko Haram in Nigeria is a serious allegation that cannot be swept under the carpet. We demand immediate and thorough investigation. I urge Dr. Mailafia and indeed all citizens with useful information on the activities of criminals and terrorist groups to assist security agencies and Governments at all levels with such intelligence for proper action.”
The Governor, however, said he hoped that such allegations were not just smear campaigns or attempts to discourage Northern governors, who he said were putting in their best to bring an end to insecurity in the region.
“The Forum does not, and will not support the activities of any criminal group, because we as Governors and our families are also not spared as was recently witnessed when the convoy of Governor Babagana Zullum of Borno State was attacked,” he said.
Mailafia had spoken in an interview on the ‘Morning Crossfire’ programme of the Nigeria Info Abuja, 95.1FM, on Monday, following which the Department of State Services invited him to its Jos Office for interrogation.
Meanwhile, Mailafia told journalists shortly after he was released by the DSS on Wednesday evening that he did not retract what he had earlier said.
