The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has blamed a former governor of Borno State, Ali Modu Sherrif, for the rise of the violent Boko Haram group. Chairman of the Forum, Jeremiah Useni told journalists at the State House Abuja, after a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan and Vice President Namadi Sambo on ways to addressing the upsurge in violence, that Mr Sherrif’s maladministration and policy of using and dumping youths in the state was the cause of the anger directed against government by members of the group.
Mr Useni, who condemned the use of violence as a means of settling grievances, blamed Mr Sherrif for neglecting the youth in the state after using them to achieve his political aims. “I remember when I was the deputy national chairman of the ANPP, I went to Borno State to commission some projects and when we were driving along one of the major streets, I saw young boys selling petrol in jerry cans and I asked the governor why he allowed them to be selling on a major road like that, and he said, ‘no, no, leave them; they are very useful during general elections. We can use them to turn everywhere.’
“So, it means they were used during the elections. So, that was how it all started. And if you remember, we had the same problem in Rivers State where one of the former governors used thugs and at the end of it, they became militants. So, there is always reason for something. No matter how good a government at the top is, some politicians at the state and local government will renege on their duties and divert public funds meant for infrastructure development to fund their political ambition.” Speaking on the way forward, Mr Useni said the Forum is organising a conference and putting together a team that will work with the government to resolve the issue.
“So, there are lot of things responsible for all these and the best way is for us to sit down and tell ourselves the truth. That is why we are organising Arewa Peace Conference come December this year. All the governors will come so that we will sit and talk and we will follow up with a monitoring group to follow up. As an organisation, that is all we can do since we have no legislative powers. But for now, we are going to start something before the conference.”
He, however, called for good governance at all levels as a panacea for tackling insecurity.
“Just like the Boko Haram issue, it started like a Borno affair but now it is becoming a national problem. It is not enough to be issuing statements like, ‘Boko Haram your days are numbered or Boko Haram you are this or that.’ We need to look at it in-depth,” he said.
He also said the group came to congratulate the President and his Vice.
Caution on force
The former minister, who said the ACF will also prepare a team of security experts to find out the best way to handle the problem, however cautioned on the use of force to tackle the crisis.
“We abhor the use of violence in whatever form. We believe there are due processes through which we can voice our complaints,” he said. “So, why should we kill to satisfy our grievances? So, the more we condemn this, the better for us. Not for some people to go and sit down and be saying good for them. Like in war, the soldiers must be working on information on the Boko Haram. Innocent ones would definitely be killed in the process of trying to dislodge the Boko Haram members from their base.”
The ACF delegation, which was led by Mr Useni, include: Aliko Mohammed, Hassan Adamu, Lawrence Onoja, Saidu Barda and Musa Shehu.
Mr Jonathan thanked the ACF for the role it has played collectively and individually for peace and stability in the country. He expressed confidence that the judiciary would handle cases arising from the elections properly, adding that, “what makes people angry is when things are not done properly.”
He invited the ACF to send any advice and suggestions, because, “we are open to advice, we are not rigid.”
Source: 234Next.
Do you notice something wrong with the picture? the suspects hands are tied with rags, some of them can no longer sit up. and they are still suspects o...
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