Buhari rejects Boko Haram

Leader of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), General Mohammadu Buhari, rtd has distanced himself from the activities of the Islamic sect, Boko Haram.

The CPC leader and former Head of State, who spoke to journalists in Abuja yesterday, during the party's Board Of Trustees (BOT) meeting, which he chaired, expressed disappointment over what he described as plans by the government of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to indict and nail him.

Boko Haram had recently named Buhari as one of those it wants to stand in for it as mediators in proposed talks between it and the federal government.

Buhari, speaking on the issue yesterday said, “My party has done an excellent job, unless you do not want to believe what my party believes in. Firstly, I do not know any member of the Boko Haram sect. I do not believe in, and do not know of any religion that kills people and burn schools.     

“If there was a stage I made mention of anything about the sect, it was when I said that there are three Boko Haram.

“One of them was led by Mohammadu Yusuf, whom we know of in the military. He was a very fine soldier we all know of but they arrested him and handed him over to the police.

He was a healthy and hearty young man, but they killed him. Again, his in-law was murdered, their houses were raised and the Borno State government compensated them. These we criticised.

“The second Boko Haram was a criminal who used to blow up banks and steal money and issue statements as Boko Haram. Then I said that the biggest Boko Haram is the Federal Government itself. This is because it has all the powers to stop those killings. This has paralysed activities in the section of the country.

“So, how can I represent people I do not know? I don’t believe in whatever they are seeking for. I cannot work for either the Boko Haram or government.  I do not believe in what they are doing especially the destruction of life and property, and the government does not want to intervene to stop all that.

With all the military and security, the federal government could not stop that. Why should the federal government occupy some areas of the country and victimize citizens in the name of fighting Boko Haram.

“This type of thing happened in the Britain during the era of Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister, when an armed group resorted to killing and destruction. But, the British government did not go and occupy those areas and inflict more injury on its people.

They handled that situation carefully, using the military and other security operatives, unlike what is happening currently in Nigeria. To me, the federal government has lost absolute control of the country’s security.

“We are optimists and majority of Nigerians believe in the coming together of the opposition parties if the ruling party must be flushed out in 2015. I challenge the Nigerian elites to go and do some research from 1999 to date and find out what the federal government under the PDP has received in money and what they have utilized the excesses crude account that have come to the country. With the coming together of the opposition, we are going to disappoint them,” he noted.

On the re-election of Barack Obama as president of the United States, Buhari said: “This is a challenge I have thrown to the Nigerian people and government. I have said before that Nigerian government don’t have any idea of governance.

They should govern the people democratically. Of course, the second coming of Obama is another big plus for the people of the United States. We congratulate him. He worked for it, he deserves it and he got it.”

The Compass