Former Chief of Army Staff, General Onyeabor Azubuike Ihejirika on Thursday 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.
The former Army Chief called El-Rufai's allegations a "diversion" to take attention from his own involvement.
Speaking to Vanguard Thursday, Former Chief of Army Staff, Lt-General Ihejirika shot back at former minister of the FCT, Nasir El-Rufai, who earlier today accused Ihejirika of being a sponsor of terror sect Boko Haram. The former Army Chief called El-Rufai's allegations a "diversion" to take attention from his own involvement.
Lt-General Onyeabor Azubuike Ihejirika
The Herald Nigeria
“The (commanders), including El-Rufai, know where the problem is," Ihejirika told Vanguard. "He should stop deceiving Nigerians by trying to divert attention”.
He continued, pointing an accusatory finger at the former minister, claiming it was he who kept the necessary weaponry and equipment needed to fight the insurgency from the military. “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."
The former Army Chief also said that El-Rufai and others allegedly green-lighted Boko Haram's activities and attempted to divert concern from the atrocities of the sect. “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," he said, furthering, "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."
Iherjirika also says that he was the first person to declare that the country was dealing with a war situation, but El-Rufai and others allegedly denied the gravity of the situation, disagreeing with his judgment. This move, the General says, gave Boko Haram time to regroup and redevelop.
“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”.
Ihejirika also told Vanguard that El-Rufai and others are further involved with Boko Haram and its operations, but that he could not yet disclose that information.
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