Former Chief of Army Staff, General Onyeabor
Azubuike Ihejirika on Thursday opened a can of
worms by declaring that the former minister of the
Federal Capital Territory and APC chieftain, Mallam
Nasir El-Rufia is one of the commanders of the Boko
Haram terrorist group.
Speaking with Vanguard over allegation by the
former minister that he (Ihejirika) and former
Governor Modu Sheriff of Borno State were fingered
as terrorists sponsors, General Ihejirika said he is
not surprised that this unimaginable allegation is
coming from 'one of the Boko Haram Commanders'.
"The (Commanders) including El-Rufai know where
the problem is. He should stop deceiving Nigerians
by trying to divert attention".
According to Ihejirika, "When the Boko Haram
operation started, supporters of the sect like El-Rufai
said that there was nothing like Boko Haram and
that the army was just killing innocent youths".
"If you also remember, not too long ago, some of
their supporters including El-Rufai said that I was
re-inventing the killing of the Ibos during the Biafra
war following government's determination to rid the
country of terrorism.
Ihejirika who was obviously angry while speaking
on phone, also said, "The likes of El-Rufai started
the campaign of human right abuses, in order to
divert the international attention of the heinous
crime being committed by the Boko Haram
terrorists".
Gen. Ihejirika then recalled recent allegations
against his person indicating that that he took away
N48 billion, an amount of money which is still in the
coffers of the Ministry of Defence, which can be
verified by anybody adding that he was not surprised
that these allegation is coming from the likes of El-
Rufai who started the campaign.
Continuing the former Army Chief said, "The likes of
El-Rufai have been supporting Boko Haram. In fact,
El-Rufai and his likes are the same group of people
that ensured the army did not to get the requested
equipment to deal with this menace once and for all,
as they used their cohorts to tell the government that
procuring modern equipment were not necessary".
Recalling that the same El-Rufai went to Thisday
Newspaper premises to grant interview to condemn
security forces for the efforts at ridding the country of
these senseless mayhem by the terrorists, Ihejirika
said, "At the onset of this crisis, I was the first
person to declare that the country was at war but
group of sponsors led by El-Rufai disagreed, that it
was not true".
"It is the same group of El-Rufai that started the
human right abuses campaign. It was done in order
to block any international assistance after the state
of emergency was declared and the sect was initially
tamed. That gave Boko Haram time and respite to
build up again".
Furthermore, General Ihejirika said that when the
United States was to initially declare Boko Haram a
terrorist organization, the same El-Rufai and his
group mounted pressure on the international
community, using alleged human right abuses as
campaign strategy.
The former Army Chief revealed that this same group
including El-Rufai have taken further steps in
support of Boko Haram, "which I cannot disclose for
now".
It will be recalled that shortly after his tenure came to
an end as COAS, some Northern political elites
started the crusade for General Azubuike Ihejirika to
be summoned before the International criminal Court
in the Hague claiming that he killed their sons and
daughters innocently whereas it is on record that no
other military leader but Ihejirika did a lot in helping
the nation contain the rapid spread of Boko Haram
insurgency in the country.
He not only established the 7th Division of the
Nigerian Army with headquarters in Maiduguri, he
established new Army Brigades, Counter Terrorism
Schools in Kachia and Jaji as well as the Terrorism
Training School.
El rufai threw the first salvo, Thursday, when he
named Ali Modu Sheriff and Ihejirika as Boko
Haram sponsors and "kingpins". In posts on his
Facebook and Twitter pages, the former minister
cited Australian crisis negotiator Stephen Davis,
who alleged the duo were key elements of the
insurgency on Arise News.
Below is the post on El-Rufai's Facebook page.
BREAKING NEWS: SHERIFF AND IHEJIRIKA
JUST NAMED AS BOKO HARAM KINGPINS –
AriseTV – August 28, 2014
Australian hostage negotiator Stephen Davis has
just named Former Borno Governor Ali Modu Sheriff
and immediate chief of army staff Lt-Gen Ihejirika
(removed in January 2014) as the Boko Haram
brains on ARISE NEWS.
Davis said Boko Haram commanders that he has
been negotiating with as the source of this
information. The kingpins not only finance BH
operations but select targets for assassination and
execution.
Finally, the truth about BH is coming out. Hopefully,
the murderers of General Muhammadu Shuwa, the
abductors of the Chibok girls, those truly responsible
for the Nyanya bombings, and attempted
assassination of General Buhari and Sheikh Dahiru
Bauchi will be known.
We hope the authorities will take the steps necessary
to act on this revelation, and thereby discharge their
duty to protect us, the citizens of Nigeria. That is just
what it is, a hope!
- Nasir El-Rufai
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