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Former Chief of Army Staff, General Onyeabor
Azubuike Ihejirika yesterday 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 frontline
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
manipulated 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.
Azubuike Ihejirika yesterday 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 frontline
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
manipulated 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.