Berende
The
Berende family of Magaji Are Compound, Ilorin, Kwara State, has
described the alleged involvement of their son, Abdullahi Berende, in
terrorism by the State Security Services as a false allegation.
The family urged the SSS to charge
Abdullahi to court or release him. Abdullahi, a leader of Shi’a Islamic
sect and two other terror suspects, Sulaiman Saka and Saheed Adewunmi,
were paraded by the SSS penultimate Wednesday for allegedly working for
Iranian terrorists planning to attack American and Israeli interests in
Nigeria.
Deputy Director, Public Relations, SSS,
Marilyn Ogar, also alleged that Abdullahi confessed to interrogators
that he received $4,000 upon completion of his training in Iran; 3,500
Euro in April 2012 at a meeting in Dubai. Ogar further said that
Abdullahi received $20,000, out of which he allegedly used $10,000 in
relocating to Lagos from Ilorin, furnishing a house and renting a shop
for his business.
But Abdullahi’s younger brother,
Yakubu, and the head of the family, who is also the Chairman, Afonja
Descendants Union, Ilorin, Alhaji Jimoh Amosa, said Abdullahi was not
involved in any terror activity.
Speaking with journalists in Ilorin on
Sunday, they challenged the SSS to make public a video where Abdullahi
had confessed to his involvement in terrorism and also evidence that he
received the foreign currencies.
Yakubu said the allegation that Abdullahi was involved in terrorism was “saddening and surprising” to the family members.
He said the suspect was a godly man who was highly respected in the area.
He added that Abdullahi went to Iran to acquire Islamic education and did not go for any terrorism training.
He said, “So for the SSS to accuse him
of being a terrorist is something that is never part of him. The family
is saying that if the confession is really true, why don’t they (SSS)
show the video of the confession for the whole world to see rather than
speaking for him?
“The allegation that he received
thousands of dollars from Iran is far from the truth, because if he had
that kind of money, every member of the family would have felt the
money. When we got to his personal accounts in different banks we could
only find N10,000. We can prove that: his ATM card is with us and his
account number is with us. If anybody wants to verify that, we can go
to his banks.”
Amosa claimed that Abdullahi was a devout muslim who taught Islamic knowledge to many of his followers.
The cleric said, “He has nothing about
violence or terrorism in his blood. He is innocent of the allegation.
He can never be a terrorist because of his grand knowledge of the Holy
Quran. They should please release him.”
PUNCH
No comments:
Post a Comment