Man who indicted Ndume not Boko Haram member, by CRC

BY LUKA BINNIYAT

KADUNA- President of Civil Rights Congress, CRC, Comrade Shehu Sani, has said the arrest of Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume by the State Security Service, SSS, was a diversionary tactics aimed at justifying government’s huge investment on them.

He spoke with newsmen in Kaduna on Monday.

Sani, who was said to have arranged the meeting between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and leaders of the Boko Haram sect in Maiduguri, in September, also described the trial of the self-confessed spokesman of the Boko Haram sect, Ali Sanda Umar Konduga, (aka, Usman Al-Zawahiri) as a ruse.

He said the arrest and trial of the two suspects was to give Nigerians the impression that security agencies were succeeding in infiltrating Boko Haram, a group that has claimed links to Al qeada.

Sani argued that Al Zawahiri had since been expelled by the sect which was fighting for the imposition of Sharia, especially in the Northern States.

Sani, who showed close understanding of the structure of Boko Haram, said: “Let me say that none of the leaders of Boko Haram has been arrested and no member of their council called the Shura has been arrested.”

He said President Goodluck Jonathan should have sacked the service chiefs for not addressing the current security challenges instead of using the head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mrs. Farida Waziri, as scape goat.

“The arrest and detention of Senator Ndume is diversionary and only meant to justify the huge expenditure of the government on security.

’’Though one cannot deny the fact that there are some politicians who might be sponsoring militant activities and the activities of Boko Haram, it is evident that Ndume is seen as a member of the establishment that the Boko Haram group is fighting against.

’’So, there is no way they will collect money from him. The man they arrested; who is making confessional statements, is not a member of the mainstream Boko Haram group.

’’Though he was a fringe member of the group, he was expelled long before the agitation went to this level.

“Let me say that none of the leaders of Boko Haram has been arrested and no member of their council called the Shura has been arrested,” he said.