By Blogger
Borno elder and former head of the state’s civil service, Bulama Mali Gubio, yesterday claimed that the attack on Maiduguri and Monguno towns by Boko Haram was a political vendetta taken too far by the federal government-controlled Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He asserted that the central government cannot pretend about not having a hand in the incident that claimed the lives of over 200 and dislodged yet another local government area in the state.
Gubio, who said he was speaking in his own capacity as a concerned citizen of the country, declared the attack by Boko Haram was allowed to happen in order to prevent the former military head of state and presidential candidate of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) from coming to campaign in Maiduguri.
The Borno elder, who spoke to journalists yesterday in Maiduguri, said the federal government had been playing lip service to the issue to tackling Boko Haram in order to achieve a selfish political end.
“It is very surprising to see that the Boko Haram (insurgents) move around in thousands freely with their weapons and choose their targets, kill people, burn places, loot shops and houses and take away people’s children and do whatever they want to do with them within this country,” said Gubio.
“They are being watched by everybody, including the government and her agents. It is enough for one to say that they have the backing of the government of the federation; otherwise, I cannot see why millions of Nigerians cannot move freely and are subjected to hardship, while a few thousands of Nigerians and their foreign collaborators have been crisscrossing this country at will at any place and time they want, and they go back safely. I think this is highly questionable.”
Noting that the latest attack came immediately after the visit of the president, he said: “If you remember, the governor of Borno State was on television and radio pleading with the people of Borno State to give maximum respect to the person of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He told the people of Borno that Jonathan was not coming only as a candidate of the PDP but also as the president and commander-in-chief of the armed forces of Nigeria; therefore, he deserves our loyalty, respect as our leader. This appeal was carried out to the letter by the people of Borno State. Mr President came in safely, conducted his affairs peacefully and safely and left Maiduguri.
“The following midnight of the day the president left Maiduguri, Boko Haram struck around Dalwa in their thousands and have been engaged the armed forces from midnight to the early hours of this morning; up to 9-10am, there were exchanges of fire.
Gubio insisted that the only reason the insurgents were so daring was “because they have the backing of some people who do not want peace. And as political activities are going on, we all know earlier that there was a time table released by the APC which shows that General Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the APC, will visit Maiduguri on the 24 of this month. That time table came out much earlier than that of PDP, but PDP hurriedly said the president will be in Maiduguri on the 24, the same day Buhari was meant to be in Borno.”
'Kareem Haruna, Journalist.
Bureau Chief Northeast Nigeria
Leadership Newspaper Group
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Blog:- www.echoiesinn.blogspot.com
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