486 Boko Haram ‘suspects’ arrest divides confab delegates

Delegates to the National Conference in Abuja took divergent positions on Thursday over the arrest of 486 suspected Boko Haram members in Abia State on Monday.



At the proceeding of the conference on Thursday, a South-South delegate, Chief Sergeant Awuse, called on security agencies to beef up security around oil installations in Port Harcourt and other parts of Rivers State.

In his motion on a matter of urgent national importance, he referred to the report by Defence Headquarters that a kingpin of the Boko Haram Islamist sect was among the 486 suspected insurgents arrested at about 2am by security agencies in Abia State on their way to Port Harcourt.

“We do not want Boko Haram in our area. We want the confab to beg the security agencies to be very more proactive. From dependable security sources, we have been told that the apprehended Boko Haram members are not the only ones. Many of them have already infiltrated the city,” he stated.

But a delegate from the North, Alhaji Bashir Dalhatu, said the arrest of the suspects could lead to serious crisis adding, “a warning is enough for the wise.”

Awuse had in an emotion-laden voice said time had come for the National Conference to intervene against the background of the statement by the Defence Headquatres that a kingpin of Boko Haram who has since been on the wanted list of security agencies was among the suspects arrested.

He said, “We can’t wait further because we have been told that one of the wanted persons was found among the 486 Boko Haram members. We have to be a little bit more proactive on this matter. One of our Governors, Alhaji Ibrahim Shettima (Borno State) was quoted to have said if Boko Haram succeeded in overrunning the North, they will want to extend to the South.

“We require some decisions in this house because you will find oil installations scattered all over the place in Port Harcourt and other parts of the state. We are worried because any attempt to inflict harm on oil installations and innocent citizens will cost the country a great fortune and serious catastrophe. The people of South South enjoy the peace of this country.”

According to him, a situation where 486 ‘traders’ move around at night claiming to be looking for jobs, is questionable.

“We are asking this conference to bring the attention of this country particularly the security agencies to the case of likely damage to oil installations in Rivers and Bayelsa states which will definitely affect the economy and portend grave danger,” Awuse stressed.

Dalhatu, amidst protest from Southern delegates, said the arrest of the suspected Boko Haram members was an ominous sign.

He said, “We must exercise great and serious caution when we address serious national issues on the floor of this house. For us to quote a newspaper report as authentic sources is not the best; we were told that those arrested in Abia State are migrant traders. We have been so far informed that only one of them could be a suspected Boko Haram member. Port Harcourt has been receiving people and visitors from other areas.

“When traders travel to the North at midnight, we don’t describe them as armed robbers. They do their legitimate businesses. Let nobody here think because I dress the way I dress or speak Hausa, think I am a Boko Haram member.

“Now, we understand that Northerners have to pay to get identity cards. The security agencies should note that if other Northern states decide to retaliate, the consequences would not be imagined. A warning is enough for the wise.”

The intervention of the Confab chairman and former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Idris Kutigi, brought the situation under control, following the contribution of another Northern delegate, Dr. (Mrs) Hannatu Ibrahim.