.jpg)
BOKO HARAM
Finally, the truth is out!
Being text of a Press
Conference addressed by the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun.
Good afternoon
Gentlemen of the press, and thank you for honouring my invitation to this press
conference.
Before I address you
today, kindly permit me to play the full interview of Dr. Stephen Davis, the
Australian negotiator who was appointed by President Goodluck Jonathan to help
secure the release of the over 200 girls who were abducted by Boko Haram on
April 15th.
The interview was
aired on Arise Television on Thursday Aug. 28th.
INTERLUDE: PLAY VIDEO
Thank you for your
patience, gentlemen.
The All Progressives
Congress (APC) like many well-meaning Nigerians had resolved long ago that the
issue of the Boko Haram insurgency should not be politicized. In view of this,
the APC expressed its willingness and readiness to cooperate with the Federal
Government in neutralizing the insurgency. Regrettably however, instead of
accepting this offer of cooperation, the PDP-Federal Government has
consistently pointed accusing fingers at our Party, the All Progressives
Congress (APC), as the sponsor of Boko Haram. They have called us all sorts of
derogatory names, but failed to provide any shred of evidence to support their
claim.
It has been very clear
to us that the vehemence and persistence of this accusation, the deliberate
distortion of statements made by our leaders to paint us as Boko Haram sponsors
and the way the PDP-led Federal Government has gone to hire foreign PR firms,
at a huge cost to taxpayers, as well as foreign and local hack writers to push
this narrative, they were struggling hard to cover up something. We waited
patiently knowing that the truth will one day surface.
In a rare moment of
truth, a top official of the Jonathan Administration, no less a personality
than the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Gen. Andrew Owoye Azazi,
situated the Boko Haram problem within the PDP. Shortly thereafter he was
fired, and he later died in controversial circumstances. Still we waited.
They distorted and
misrepresented the statements made by our leader, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, to try
to convince the world that he was indeed the main sponsor of Boko Haram. They
continued to echo the same slander about Gen. Buhari that was started by
Presidential Spokesman Reuben Abati in 2011, and for which he and his cohorts
eventually begged to settle out of court and to apologize to the General. Still
we waited.
When their attempt to
link Gen. Buhari with Boko Haram failed, as his popularity among ordinary
Nigerians continued to soar, he was suddenly attacked by suicide bombers. Those
who planned the attack believed this as the final solution to what they
perceived as the threat he represents to the realization of their ambition. By
the grace of God, he survived. We do not claim to know those who attacked him,
but we do know those who provided the atmosphere for that attack to take place.
Still we waited.
When the government
declared a state of emergency in three worst-hit states of Adamawa, Borno and
Yobe in 2013, thousands of troops were deployed to the three states. But the
unusual happened. The number of attacks simply skyrocketed. It is common
knowledge that in any territory that has been placed under a state of
emergency, the military takes charge of security, erecting checkpoints as part
of efforts to keep a tab on security. Such was the situation in Borno in April
2014, when over 200 girls were abducted and driven away in many trucks.
Soldiers posted to a nearby checkpoint were said to have withdrawn shortly
before the attack. Who ordered their withdrawal? Some of the trucks in which
the girls were being carted away broke down, yet no one challenged them.
Despite this bizarre occurrence, they refused to accept responsibility and continued
to cast aspersion on our Party, the APC, as the sponsor of Boko Haram. Still we
waited.
Boko Haram routinely
enriched their arsenal with tanks, Armoured Personnel Carriers, guns, trucks
and other military equipment which they seized from the Army. From the videos
they release from time to time, one could see Boko Haram insurgents driving
around unchallenged in convoys of up to 60 vehicles made-up of tanks and other
military vehicles they seized from our military, in a territory that is under a
state of emergency. What is happening? No one could fathom it. Still we waited.
A man known to all as
the kingpin of Boko Haram, a man who helped to arm them so he could win
elections and decimate his opponents, was moving around with the best security
ever. He is a known ally of the President and he is not known to be under any
immunity. Yet he was never arrested or even questioned. Still we waited.
In line with a Yoruba
adage that says when a drum starts sounding too hard, it is about to burst, the
PDP and the Presidency ratcheted up their attacks on our party, labelling us as
Boko Haram sponsors. They hired a foreign firm, Levick, for US$1.2 million in
taxpayers' money, as well as a number of out-of-luck hack writers and pseudo
analysts, one of them from Russia, to help push the narrative. Still we waited.
Then their drum
exploded!
Dr. Stephen Davis, a
man hired by the President Jonathan-led Federal Government to negotiate with
Boko Haram for the release of the Chibok girls decided to speak out, believing
the best way to tackle the insurgency is to expose the sponsors. And who are
they? On international television last Thursday, and as you have just seen and
heard, he named former Borno Governor Ali Modu Sheriff and a former Army Chief,
Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, as the sponsors of Boko Haram.
Prodded by Sahara
Reporters in a subsequent interview on whether Gen. Buhari and Malam Nasir
el-Rufai were sponsors, he said the Boko Haram commanders who gave him the
names of their sponsors did not mention their names. The die is cast. The truth
is finally out! Boko Haram sponsors have been exposed. They are within the
ruling PDP. They are friends of President Jonathan. He cannot pretend not to
know who they are and what they have done and are still doing. His myriad of
intelligence agencies, including the DSS and the DMI, cannot pretend they do
not have any information on these men.
It is true that Ali
Modu Sheriff was, until recently, a member of our Party. But the Party always
suspected that he was a mole, planted to hijack or at best weaken the new Party
for the PDP. He is not new to that role. He helped to decimate his former
party, the ANPP, to an extent that the number of states under its control fell
from seven in 2003 to three by the time he left as Governor.
We know for sure that
Ali Modu Sheriff was planted in the APC to help decimate our party. We
confronted him openly during the merger negotiation but he denied vigorously. His
surrogate for the post of the Chairman of the APC, Chief Tom Ikimi together
with whom they planned to hijack the Party for the Presidency was firmly
rejected. Realizing they have failed, they fled our party and returned to where
they came from, and were duly embraced by their controllers.
President Jonathan
cannot pretend not to know the alleged role that Ali Modu Sheriff has played in
the establishment and growth of Boko Haram, yet he never allowed the man to
even be questioned by any of the security agencies under his control. All
through his time with our Party, every time they accused us of sponsoring Boko
Haram, on the basis of his presence, we challenged them if they had evidence to
arrest any of our members who is suspected to be a sponsor, they never did.
They dared not, because Sheriff was their agent. Even if he had remained in the
APC after we democratically encouraged him to go, they would still not have
arrested him.
Recall, gentlemen,
that immediately Sheriff went back to the PDP, the Maiduguri Airport that had
been closed to even the pilgrims from the state on grounds of security, was
re-opened specially for him. What more evidence does anyone need that Sheriff
was and remains President Jonathan's Man Friday?
Our Stand
The truth is finally
out. We have been vindicated. We have no hand in the Boko Haram insurgency. The
raison d'etre of our party is the well-being and security of Nigerians
The sponsors of Boko
Haram are within the PDP and the Presidency. They are known friends of
President Jonathan. He knows them and they know him.
The man who exposed
these Boko Haram sponsors is a Jonathan-appointed Negotiator. He has no axe to
grind, neither does he have any motive to shield the APC or portray the
PDP/Presidency in bad light. In fact, if he had any sympathy at all, it is for
the man who hired him, President Jonathan.
We have said it all
along. Boko Haram was politicized purely for one reason, and one reason only:
To be used as a trump card for President Jonathan to win another term. For that
strategy to work, the APC, which they see as the only stumbling block to the
PDP's victory in 2015, must be maligned and labeled. Gullible, duplicitous and
self-serving politicians like Femi Fani-Kayode swallowed the bait, hook, line
and sinker, and started parroting the glaring lies. PDP spokesman Olisa Metuh,
an obvious pawn on the chess board, followed suit, labelling a party that
comprises Nigerians of all ethnic and religious hue a Janjaweed and Islamic
party. Now he is stewing in his own juice.
In the process of this
dangerous politics, the Nigerian military which was globally acclaimed for its
impressive showings at various peacekeeping missions around the world, simply
suffered collateral damage. Apparently, fifth columnists in the military has
sold the force out, first by denying it of the necessary fighting tools and
then weakening it to such an extent that even the little it had was being taken
away daily by insurgents. When the patriotic Gov. Kashim Shettima of Borno
tried to raise the issue of the poorly-equipped troops and their low morale, he
was roundly pilloried. Now the world knows why!
Now that the cat has
been let out of the bag and the real sponsors of Boko Haram have been exposed,
we hope President Jonathan will summon the courage to do the right thing: Hand
over the identified Boko Haram sponsors to the International Criminal Court
(ICC) for investigation and prosecution.
There is no doubt that
Boko Haram has committed crimes against humanity in its scorched-earth campaign
against unharmed citizens, and the most appropriate body to investigate and try
the sect's sponsors is the ICC.
According to Article
17 of the Rome Statute that set up the ICC, and to which Nigeria is signatory,
the ICC is a court of last resort, expected to exercise its jurisdiction only
if states themselves are unwilling or unable genuinely to investigate and
prosecute international crimes.
In view of the fact
that the alleged Boko Haram sponsors are either members of the ruling party or
friends of the President, it is clear that the PDP-led Federal Government is
unwilling and unable to try them, hence our call.
Nigerians can rest
assured that the APC will not allow this issue to be swept under the carpet.
Now that it is clear
that the PDP is behind Boko Haram for the sole purpose of winning next year’s
Presidential Election, Nigerians must prevail on the PDP and the Presidency to
urgently end this insurgency and the daily killing and maiming of innocent
Nigerians!
The President must
remember that he is the Commander-in-Chief! The buck stops on his desk. He must
now do all it takes to stop the growing mess in our nation’s North-East.
Nigerians expect no
less!
Abuja
Sept. 2nd 2014
No comments:
Post a Comment