A Maiduguri-based group, Borno Elites for Peace, Stability and Progress, has called for the arrest and interrogation of the former governor of the state, Alhaji Modu Sheriff over Tuesday suicide bombing that killed 30 people in Maiduguri.
The call, according to the group, was necessitated by a statement allegedly credited to the campaign organization of the former governor, claiming knowledge of those responsible for the bombing.
The group’s statement, which was made available to Daily Sun yesterday and signed by the trio of Imam Ibrahim Gazali, chairman;, Saleh Yerima Biu, vice chairman; and Mary James Bata, secretary, called on the Nigerian Army and the National Security Adviser (NSA) to extract information on Sheriff as regard the genesis of Boko Haram menace in North-eastern state of the country.
“We have noted with very serious concern the attempt by Sheriff to contradict the position of the Nigerian Army, which had earlier attributed the deadly attacks to the handiwork of the dreaded Boko Haram insurgents.
“For Sheriff to publicly declare that the attack was not carried out by the Boko Haram but by some persons, shows that the former governor could perhaps be of a great service to the security operatives in Borno State, by volunteering information on what really transpired. And we will indeed be glad if he can come forward to do so.
“By this, there is no need for the security operatives to look too far, in their bid to unmask and apprehend those bombing Borno and killing our citizens. To this end, we are calling on the security agencies to, without any further delay, invite former governor Sheriff to tell them all he knows, with a view to providing them with incontrovertible evidence about the identity of those who carried out the attack. And where he fails to do that, he should be hanged, for attempting to raise false alarm, with a view to misleading and insulting the sensibilities of victims and their families,” the statement read in part.
The group also wanted Sheriff to be drilled as regard the mysterious killings of the late Boko Haram financier and a former commissioner in his administration, Buji Foi, the assassination of Boko Haram leader, Muhammed Yusuff in police custody, the brain behind the establishment of a ECOMOG group in Borno State and also the killing of Alhaji Baa Fugu, the 74-year-old father of the late Yusuf, who was also killed in police custody.
“Sheriff should also tell the world whether the persons he is now accusing of Maiduguri’s latest explosion were the same people responsible for all the instances we enumerated. We also want to know if the same people he is accusing, were also the same hired thugs, armed with sticks and stationed at the Maiduguri airport to attack the convoy of the state governor. Sheriff should also tell the world why he brought in thugs and started another round of crisis last Saturday, if not that he wanted to destabilize Borno,” the statement added.
By AKEEB ALARAPE
