BOKO HARAM is one of the major contradictions of Nigeria, that has been troubling the country for 10 years, and the country is unable to tackle it because there is no consensus.
In a proper country, the recent re-evaluation by the former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Dr Obadiah Malafia on a Northern Governor who is a Boko Haram commander should have brought the hell down.
“A former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Obadiah Mailafia has revealed that a northern governor is the commander of dreaded terrorist group, Boko Haram.
“Mailafia made this revelation during an interview on Radio station, Nigerian Info, while reacting to the current crisis rocking Southern Kaduna.
“He said he has information from top bandits operating in the Northern part of the country to the effect that a serving governor in the region is their top commander.
“The former CBN deputy governor also disclosed that Boko Haram terrorists and bandits are the same people, with sophisticated networks.
“When asked if the government was unwilling or unable to protect the people of Kaduna, Mailafiya said:
“In fact, it is not only unable, it is unwilling and we have good reason to feel that they are part and parcel of the killers, let me make some revelations to you.
“How will a government just say it is revenge killings and so on, then you leave it there because it is revenge killings and so on. The body language of this administration, the body language of the state government shows clearly that they have a hand in the killings, no doubt about it.
“Let me make some revelations because some of us also have our own intelligence networks, we have met with some of the bandits, we have met with some of their high commanders, one or two who have repented, they have sat down with us, not once, not twice. They told us one of the Northern governors is the Commander of Boko Haram in Nigeria.
“Boko Haram and bandits are one and the same, they have a sophisticated network. During this lockdown, their planes were moving up and down as if there was no lockdown, moving ammunitions, moving logistics, moving money and distributing them to different parts of the country.
“He said that the dreaded groups have plans to start going into the cities to kill prominent people as part of the phase two of their campaign of bloodshed, and ultimately want to start a war in Nigeria in 2022.
“They are already in the South; in the rainforests of the South. They are everywhere. They told us that when they finish this rural killings, they will move to phase two.
“The phase two is that they will go into the urban cities, going from house to house killing prominent people. I can tell you that this is their game plan. By 2022, they want to start a civil war in Nigeria.
“Mailafia warned that his statements should not be taken as a joke, as according to him, he is certain about his claims.
“Don’t joke with what I’m telling you,” he warned. “I have a Ph.D from Oxford University, I’m a Central Banker, we don’t talk nonsense. I have this information from the highest possible authority.”
This is coming one week after Senator Ali Ndume revealed that one of the repentant Boko Haram members, who was recently integrated into the community, killed his father, stole his wealth and disappeared.
(Source: Kanyidaily.com)
When the DSS invited Dr Mailafia on Wednesday, we had feared the regime was going to add another political detainee. I called him on phone about eight times on Wednesday without him picking his call or calling back.
He reported at DSS Jos on Thursday and was kept for interrogation for five hours before he was released. This is a celebrated time of release of a citizen arrested in recent times.
Dr Mailafia has told the BBC that he got his information from Fulani traders:
“According to The Cable, Obadiah Mailafia, former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), says he got the information about a northern governor leading Boko Haram from traders in a market.
Mailafia was invited by the Department of State Services (DSS) over a claim he made that a governor from the north is the leader of Boko Haram — he made the claim while being interviewed on a radio station in Abuja on Monday.
After his release from DSS custody, he said he is ready to lay down his life for the country like Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa, did for his country.
But in an interview with BBC Hausa on Thursday, Mailafia said he got the information from “some Fulani traders” in the market and did not know that his statement would go viral.
According to him, his words were misunderstood and that he did not even know he was recorded on video.
Mailafia said he told the DSS what he knew about the incident and would not repeat what he said. He apologised for any comments he made that offended others.
He is a fan of Buhari
He added that he is a fan of President Muhammadu Buhari, “but there are bad people who don’t give him the advice to help him”.
The Northern Governors Forum (NGF) had asked security agencies to investigate Mailafia’s claim, saying the allegation is too heavy to be swept under the carpet.
On Friday, the DSS had described Mailafia’s claim as fake news.
The country would be happy if the DSS could telll the country the level of investigation it carried out before coming to the “fake news” conclusion.
This column agrees with The Norther Governors Forum that this allegation is too weighty to be swept under the carpet.
The other problem is that while people may have an idea of who has Shekau’s characteristic, every Northern Governor stands accused of this charge until we get to the bottom of this.
Humans are wicked
“TONIGHT, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda, and a terrorist who’s responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children.
It was nearly 10 years ago that a bright September day was darkened by the worst attack on the American people in our history. The images of 9/11 are seared into our national memory—hijacked planes cutting through a cloudless September sky; the Twin Towers collapsing to the ground; black smoke billowing up from the Pentagon; the wreckage of Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where the actions of heroic citizens saved even more heartbreak and destruction.
And yet we know that the worst images are those that were unseen to the world. The empty seat at the dinner table. Children who were forced to grow up without their mothers or their fathers. Parents who would never know the feeling of their child’s embrace. Nearly 3,000 citizens taken from us, leaving a gaping hole in our hearts.”
That was President Barrack Obama addressing America on the death of Osama bin Laden but how many people would know that Bin Laden was a friend of the Bush family? In fact the first plane that left America after 9/11 took out the terrorist family. It all shows how wicked human beings generally could be.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
Plan To Destabilise Nigeria Is Real — SSS
THE State Security Service (SSS), on Friday, insisted that there were plans by some unnamed notable personalities in the country to subvert the nation. In a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja by its spokesperson, Dr Peter Afunanaya, the service pointed out that part of the orchestrations of the plotters was to engage in divisive acts as well as use inciting statements to pit one group against another in the country…
More Heads To Roll In UNILAG •Babalakin, Ogundipe Trade Words, Resumption In Jeopardy
MORE top officials of the embattled University of Lagos (UNILAG) are to be axed for alleged financial recklessness and mismanagement which consumed the institution’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe on Wednesday, the Governing Council, disclosed on Friday…
INEC Seeks Stakeholders Collaboration In Instituting Electoral Transparency
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has urged stakeholders in the electoral process to join the commission in deepening the use of technology and instituting a regime of transparency in electoral process. INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, represented by Mr Festus Okoye, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, made the call at a virtual…
How Bandits, Terrorists, Other Criminals Get Their Weapons —Retired Col. Majoyeogbe, Ex-Commandant, Army Intelligence School
Colonel Olanipekun Majoyeogbe retired from the Nigerian Army after holding various posts, including Commandant, Nigerian Army Intelligence School and Commandant, SSS Training School. In this interview by SUYI AYODELE, the graduate of English from the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile Ife, speaks on various issues bordering on the Nigerian security situation…
National Assembly Acting Clerk Advocates E-Parliament
Acting Clerk to the National Assembly, Mr Olatunde Amos Ojo, has again restated his determination to transform the National Assembly “for better deliveries of constitutional responsibilities that is of international standard in lawmaking, representation and oversight…”
and then