With the latest call by Barrister Kaka Shehu Lawan, the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Borno State for the arrest, investigation and prosecution of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, the former Governor of Borno state on allegation of sponsorship of Boko Haram sect, Lawan has stirred the hornets’ nest thereby provoking the anger of not only Senator Sheriff, but possibly others who must be carrying, rightly or wrongly, the alleged tag of Boko Haram sponsorship.
Speaking at the just concluded 56th Annual Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association in Port Harcourt, Lawan alleged that the insecurity created by Sheriff’s administration in Borno gave birth to Boko Haram adding that his two-term tenure, between 2003 and 2011, heralded bad governance, impunity and lawlessness.
According to the Attorney General, the establishment of the Ministry of Religious Affairs by Sheriff’s administration and subsequent killing of the Commissioner in person of Buji Foi during the 2009 imbroglio aggravated the level of insecurity in the state to the extent that at the end of his administration, it left behind a debit balance sheet of insecurity. Lawan explained that Foi was the student and strong financier of Mohammed Yusuf, the then leader of Boko Haram.
The state Attorney General is at a loss as to how Yusuf, who was captured alive by soldiers was later killed in the police custody after he had met with Sheriff saying, “The move was probably meant to conceal information that might be revealed by the late Boko Haram leader.”
Lawan then asked, “Can Sheriff deny that Yusuf freely operated between 2003 and 2009 and the aberration laws be passed?”
The Commissioner for Justice regretted that for all the impunity, bad governance and atrocities of Senator Sheriff’s administration of Borno, the then Federal government was privy to it and did nothing to check the excesses.
“The Federal Government is aware; the state government is aware; you media men are aware. They are not only facts; they are notorious facts. All and sundry are aware.
“Up to today, he is moving freely and nobody is talking to him. All hands must be deck, if actually justice must be done to the hundreds of people that were killed in the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” Lawan said.
To further buttress his allegation in Port Harcourt, the Attorney General, published a full page advertisement few days after, in the Daily Trust of August 30, 2016, which he titled, “40 unknown facts on Ex-Governor Ali Modu Sheriff and Boko Haram violence.”In his response, Senator Sheriff described the statement of Barrister Lawan as empty outburst, pointing out that he was acting the script allegedly written by his boss, Governor Kashim Shettima.
Speaking through Mr. Inuwa Bwala, his Media Adviser, Sheriff charged the Commissioner of Justice to look inward to the government to enable him to locate those behind Boko Haram menace in the state.
According to Bwala, “The commissioner is talking rubbish. He’s acting the script of his governor. Sheriff made the governor what he is today. Those who are making the allegation should know that three of his (Sheriff) brothers were killed by Boko Haram and his family is being threatened by the Boko Haram.”
The Media Adviser called on the Federal Government to investigate all persons having links with Boko Haram.
Before now, Mr. Stephen Davies, the famed Australian negotiator on behalf of President Jonathan’s administration on the release of the abducted Chibok School Girls, alleged that Senator Sheriff and the then Army Chief, Lt. General Azubike Ihejirika were sponsors of Boko Haram.
However, while the State Security Service cleared the Army Chief, it stated that the allegation against Sheriff would be investigated.
Similarly in Borno, both the state government of All Progressives Congress and the opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party, continue to accuse each other of being Boko Haram masterminds. The blame game continues mostly among and between the sons of the soil.
But the question will always beg for answer. “Who are the sponsors of the Boko Haram Sect?” This is the question that continues to re-echo seven years after the declaration of war against the Nigerian state by the sect.
The inability or the silence from the authorities with regards the sponsors of this sect that has dehumanised and debased mankind also provoke further questions: Are the sponsors of Boko Haram unassailable, untouchable or above the law? Are they ghosts from the blues? Is Boko Haram not the making of Nigerians? How long can we continue to lose innocent citizens, soldiers and members of security agencies in this unprovoked war, where the sponsors remained elusive or appear shielded?
Let it be known that no amount of military successes recorded in this war against the insurgency and no amount of rehabilitation, reconstruction and resettlement put in place without identifying the sponsors of Boko Haram will make sense. This is synonymous to cutting down the tree not from the root. It will grow again.
Victor Izekor, a journalist and public affairs commentator writes from Maiduguri at victor_izekor@thepointng.com
