The All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) government
in Borno State has accused the state's chapter of the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) of being responsible for the insurgency of the Boko Haram sect in
the State.
The ANPP-led state government has also expressed doubts over the authenticity of the Boko Haram group seeking to have peace talks with the Federal Government.
Accusing the rival PDP of sponsoring the Boko Haram sect against it, the ANPP state government said the PDP has so far not lost any of its member in the crisis.
Briefing journalists in Abuja at the weekend, the Borno State Commissioner for Home Affairs and Information, Mr. Inuwa Bwala said “the greater number of these killings are political, and that is why the greater number of people being killed today are all from ANPP, including (last) Thursday killing, somebody who decamped from PDP to ANPP.
General Mamma Shuwa was a member of ANPP. I can continue to name names for you. All of them are from the ANPP. All these people being killed are from the ANPP, there is no single PDP member that has been killed till date.
“Even if it were a coincidence, we have very serious inclinations to the effect that this thing has serious political undertones.
"Politicians find in Boko Haram perfect alibi to commit all sorts of crimes. Armed robbers find Boko Haram a perfect alibi to loot and attack banks; Businessmen who have disagreement with their business associates find Boko Haram a perfect alibi to unleash terror on their business partners. To the effect that you cannot clearly define in this configuration which one is a Boko Haram and which one is not.
“Having known ab-initio that the hostility against Borno state government and against ANPP in Borno was intent to either undermine us or even dislodge us, we are not surprised that very often some people go to the press to cause mischief. We want to call on such people to stop playing politics with this serious issue that we found ourselves in Borno State and come on board and give us very solid solution on how we can resolve these things. Our doors are open.
“Even this demand for ceasefire, as much as we are very enthusiastic towards it, as much as it sound very good and as much as we want to come in, we still have our suspicions because he who comes to equity, comes with clean hands.
"You have stated your terms, allow the federal government or whoever it is to produce who they feel will adequately represent them, because the mention of names as possible negotiators will have far reaching implications and because of fear of the implications, that is why some of them are opting out.
“I agree that those who have been named so far as possible negotiators are very credible Nigerians, but then one cannot tell that this demand is actually from Boko Haram or from some other people who want to use Boko Haram as an alibi, because Boko Haram has a modus operadi, one of which in the background of any of their conferences you see a display of Arabic inscriptions, which is what they believe in.
“And part of their principal demands has always been for the implementation of Sharia in some states even across the federation that was missing in the last conference for ceasefire. Boko Haram addresses in Hausa, but both the last two addresses were in English. Sometimes when we begin to read in between lines you find it very difficult to understand which one is really coming from the real Boko Haram or whether it is from other sources, so doubt has already been cast on that one.
“As a government, we believe in dialogue. Whoever comes to us for dialogue, so be it, even if it is coming from those who are not actually Boko Haram. Of course we will embrace it because we don’t want our people to be killed any further".
The ANPP-led state government has also expressed doubts over the authenticity of the Boko Haram group seeking to have peace talks with the Federal Government.
Accusing the rival PDP of sponsoring the Boko Haram sect against it, the ANPP state government said the PDP has so far not lost any of its member in the crisis.
Briefing journalists in Abuja at the weekend, the Borno State Commissioner for Home Affairs and Information, Mr. Inuwa Bwala said “the greater number of these killings are political, and that is why the greater number of people being killed today are all from ANPP, including (last) Thursday killing, somebody who decamped from PDP to ANPP.
General Mamma Shuwa was a member of ANPP. I can continue to name names for you. All of them are from the ANPP. All these people being killed are from the ANPP, there is no single PDP member that has been killed till date.
“Even if it were a coincidence, we have very serious inclinations to the effect that this thing has serious political undertones.
"Politicians find in Boko Haram perfect alibi to commit all sorts of crimes. Armed robbers find Boko Haram a perfect alibi to loot and attack banks; Businessmen who have disagreement with their business associates find Boko Haram a perfect alibi to unleash terror on their business partners. To the effect that you cannot clearly define in this configuration which one is a Boko Haram and which one is not.
“Having known ab-initio that the hostility against Borno state government and against ANPP in Borno was intent to either undermine us or even dislodge us, we are not surprised that very often some people go to the press to cause mischief. We want to call on such people to stop playing politics with this serious issue that we found ourselves in Borno State and come on board and give us very solid solution on how we can resolve these things. Our doors are open.
“Even this demand for ceasefire, as much as we are very enthusiastic towards it, as much as it sound very good and as much as we want to come in, we still have our suspicions because he who comes to equity, comes with clean hands.
"You have stated your terms, allow the federal government or whoever it is to produce who they feel will adequately represent them, because the mention of names as possible negotiators will have far reaching implications and because of fear of the implications, that is why some of them are opting out.
“I agree that those who have been named so far as possible negotiators are very credible Nigerians, but then one cannot tell that this demand is actually from Boko Haram or from some other people who want to use Boko Haram as an alibi, because Boko Haram has a modus operadi, one of which in the background of any of their conferences you see a display of Arabic inscriptions, which is what they believe in.
“And part of their principal demands has always been for the implementation of Sharia in some states even across the federation that was missing in the last conference for ceasefire. Boko Haram addresses in Hausa, but both the last two addresses were in English. Sometimes when we begin to read in between lines you find it very difficult to understand which one is really coming from the real Boko Haram or whether it is from other sources, so doubt has already been cast on that one.
“As a government, we believe in dialogue. Whoever comes to us for dialogue, so be it, even if it is coming from those who are not actually Boko Haram. Of course we will embrace it because we don’t want our people to be killed any further".
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