When Will Nigeria’s Government Name and Shame Sponsors Of Boko Haram As It Has Done With Looters?

Buhari

There is no debate that Boko Haram originated from North East Nigeria from where the ideology spread to Nigeria’s neighbours. Strangely while Cameroun and Chad have convicted and executed Boko Haram members captured in combat, Nigeria, the epicentre of the Boko Haram ideology has never executed any member of the sect despite claims of apprehending alleged ‘commanders’ of the sect. Worse still, while Nigeria government is celebrating the ‘technical’ victory of the army over the sect in recent time, Nigerians have been put in the dark on the sponsors of the Boko Haram murderous activities.

As one terrorism expert noted recently, terrorism activities are like a big tree with several branches. He talked about the ideology of the sect and the financiers as the taproot while those who are commanders and foot soldiers are likened to the branches of the tree. He argued that killing of commanders and foot soldiers of Boko Haram at the battle field is tantamount to cutting off the branches of the tree, which cannot guarantee that the tree would die permanently.

In the past especially under President Goodluck Jonathan there were all kinds of conspiracy theories thrown around about the sponsors of the sect, so much so that some Nigerians even believed that the government was allegedly one of the sponsors of the sect. Even though it sound illogical that a government headed by a Christian would sponsor Jihadists against his own government, many in some parts of the country believed it and it formed part of the reasons why they voted the way they did in 2015 presidential election. At a point even the president of Christian Association of Nigeria was alleged to be one of the sponsors. In fact the then General Muhammadu Buhari in 2012 was quoted as saying that there are three types of Boko Haram and that Federal Government is one of them (read: Buhari identifies 3 types of Boko Haram, says 2015 will be bloody if …http://omojuwa.com/2012/05/buhari-identifies-3-types-of-boko-haram-says-2015-will-be-bloody-if/)

Speaking in the above report on alleged existence of three groups of Boko Haram, General Buhari said, “I will like to quote Professor Ango Abdullahi that said there are three Boko Harams including the original one led by Muhammed Yusufu who was killed and his supporters tried to take revenge by attacking the law enforcement agencies and politicians. There is another developed Boko Haram of criminals who steal and kill… while the biggest Boko Haram is the Federal Government.” Now that we have a new government headed by someone who knew the three types of Boko Haram, why is the government not very keen about naming and shaming and prosecuting the sponsors of Boko Haram, the same way it had been naming, shaming and prosecuting looters of national treasury?

The other day former President Olusegun Obasanjo called on President Muhammadu Buhari to find the root cause of Boko Haram insurgency. Obasanjo made the call when he paid a courtesy call on Governor Kashim Shettima at the Government House Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, but what he failed to add was that the sponsors must be unravelled if we hope to find permanent solution to the menace.