Important Questions on #BokoHaram by Prof. Ahmad Isah Harun CT

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Before some northern groups give Igbos an ultimatum to leave the north, they should begin with boko haram project which seem to be stage-managed by some beneficiaries that seem to include military officials, governor, Emirs in Maiduguri, politicians in Maiduguri, and some perceived rich men in Maiduguri. The  northern groups suppose should travel to Maiduguri (if they can) to assess certain facts, so that they will understand who the shareholders in boko haram project are and who the people protect them. Before I list my observations, I want you to understand that I am not a victim of the press and so my observations are based on the true situation in Maiduguri which i assessed from my visits to University of Maiduguri three times in three  academic sessions (2014/2015, 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 academic sessions) . My observations are as follows :

   A. The governor is busy buying the houses and properties of the terrorized citizens inside Maiduguri with virtually no effort towards helping the internally displaced persons but injecting political thugs into civilian JTF in order to serve him and not the people of Maiduguri.

B. The military officials have taken over all trades of cows, sheep, donkeys and other foodstuff as only their agent's truckloads are allowed to pass road blocks unhindered and also truckloads of their accomplices, otherwise the truckloads of ordinary citizens will be attacked by boko haram. How can the defeated boko haram differentiate between which truckloads to attack? So by implication, citizens of Maiduguri are deprived of their normal trading activities. Are the military officials in Maiduguri to seize trade or fight insurgency?

C. Why were the military commanded to stop fighting when they got closer to sambisa for two weeks, and when they were commanded to continue later, they entered sambisa and met no boko haram fighters but only women and children but claim victory nonetheless? Why were the press busy telling lies about this? Who stopped the military for two weeks in order to give room for boko haram fighters to leave sambisa camp?

D. Why are the Emirs, governor, politicians and other rich men inside Maiduguri silent about these dastard developments? Who created a communication gap between the realities in Maiduguri and other parts of Nigeria? And yet government have being pumping money to military officials to curb insurgency without accountability.

E. Are the military collecting their  salaries and allowances when due? Do the brave heroes that pay the ultimate price get bonuses or any special concession for the risks they take and price they pay. There were records of protest by the wives of young military officers about non payment of allowances. Who is causing danger to the lives of the actual soldiers fighting in the field? How could the perceived defeated boko haram put military on the defensive ?

F. It is common Knowledge that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar (former Vice President) with the help and cooperation of Adamawa State government, single handedly hired local hunters to counter with boko haram attacks in Adamawa State and they succeeded in liberating Adamawa State from the grip of insurgency. How many rich men like Atiku Abubakar do they have in Maiduguri? what is wrong with them? and why can't the Borno State government do the same? The answer is simple: they are accomplices and beneficiaries of the boko haram project.

G. I was in University of Maiduguri on Wednesday (8th June, 2017) when boko haram launched an attack on Maiduguri city around 6-6:30pm and they exchanged fire with military and later ran away in the usual dramatic way. This attack coincided with the visit of the Acting President that was scheduled to visit Maiduguri on Thursday (8th June,  2017). Is this not a stage-managed attack to compel the Acting President to release more money for the a stage-managed crisis? Why is money so important at the expense of innocent human lives? Who told boko haram that the Acting President is coming?  And how could there be a security break barely 24hours to the visit of the Acting President and yet no one is held responsible for that? Is this not a classical vendetta against the sovereignty of Nigeria?

So from the foregoing, you could see that  there is more work to be done in the north than chasing Igbos out of the north. This can be achieved by mounting pressure on the Federal government to launch an investigation to the allegations against the governor of Borno State, investigate the military officials. All primary actors and their accomplices should be summoned and other to justice without fear or favor. The FG should intensify and sanitize its efforts with regard to insurgency in Borno State to protect the citizens of State. This will hopefully bring an end to the insurgency not only in Borno State but the Northwest region as a whole. This is a better and more pressing  matter than wasting time and indirectly helping sponsors of Kanu to achieve their dreams.