Nigerian NEF Tackles President Jonathan Over Silence on Davies’ Revelations
by DENNIS AGBO AND EZEKIEL TITUS
National Mirror, Nigeria
Sep 9, 2014
….APC wants Ihejirika, Sheriff probed
The Northern Elders Forum, NEF, has decried what it described as the silence of President Goodluck Jonathan on the revelations made by Reverend Steve Davis, the Australian negotiator employed by the Federal Government over the abducted Chibok girls.
Davis had accused the former Governor of Borno State, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, and the former Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika (rtd) of being among the sponsors of the Boko Haram sect.
The Northern Elders Forum said that President Jonathan should probe the alleged involvement of Modu Sheriff and Ihejirika.
Secretary General of the Forum, Professor Ango Abdullahi, in briefing newsmen in Bauchi yesterday, said the claims of Reverend Davies were serious enough to be merely repudiated, saying Jonathan owes Nigerians a duty to address the circumstances surrounding the allegation.
NEF, according to Abdullahi, expects a full scale investigation and, if necessary, prosecution of persons involved in the escalating mayhem caused by the insurgence, as the issue must not be swept under the carpet.
He said: “The silence of the Presidency on this matter is likely to be construed as full acceptance of all the disturbing allegations made by Davies with the rapid territorial gains in vast areas of Nigerian soil, and what appears as imminent fall of key cities and towns to the insurgents.”
The forum urged the president to immediately overhaul the leadership of the military to arrest the barbaric killings of innocent citizens in the country, while also calling on Nigeria not to concede any territory to the Boko Haram insurgents.
The group urged Nigerians to support a re-organised and better equiped military to defend the country, including far-reaching measures to enable Jonathan to win the war in no distant time Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress, APC, has call for independent investigation on Ihejirika and Modu Sheriff.
APC said the allegation is too weighty for Ihejirika and Sheriff to just walk away without being investigated. The APC chairman in Enugu State, Dr. Ben Nwoye, who briefed newsmen in Enugu yesterday, said that it would be wrong to wave the allegation off, just because some persons in the corridors of power may not feel comfortable with such allegation coming from a respectable authority such as Davis.
Nwoye insisted that Ihejirika and Sheriff should clear themselves of the allegation if they insist it is not true by submitting themselves to independent investigation.
The APC Chairman said that Davis is not a Nigerian politician, adding that it was shameful that the Federal Government is now denying knowledge of Davis activities even when the Department for State Security Service, DSS, was aware that Davis was around for the negotiation.
Nwoye also said that Davis should be investigated to find out if his allegations were made out of malice.
“It is wrong for the Federal Government to take sides on this issue, Boko Haram is not an issue to be tossed around with, it’s about human life, those accused should be asked to submit themselves to investigation,” Nwoye said.
 |
| Nigerian newspapers. |
National Mirror, Nigeria
Sep 9, 2014
….APC wants Ihejirika, Sheriff probed
The Northern Elders Forum, NEF, has decried what it described as the silence of President Goodluck Jonathan on the revelations made by Reverend Steve Davis, the Australian negotiator employed by the Federal Government over the abducted Chibok girls.
Davis had accused the former Governor of Borno State, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, and the former Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika (rtd) of being among the sponsors of the Boko Haram sect.
The Northern Elders Forum said that President Jonathan should probe the alleged involvement of Modu Sheriff and Ihejirika.
Secretary General of the Forum, Professor Ango Abdullahi, in briefing newsmen in Bauchi yesterday, said the claims of Reverend Davies were serious enough to be merely repudiated, saying Jonathan owes Nigerians a duty to address the circumstances surrounding the allegation.
NEF, according to Abdullahi, expects a full scale investigation and, if necessary, prosecution of persons involved in the escalating mayhem caused by the insurgence, as the issue must not be swept under the carpet.
He said: “The silence of the Presidency on this matter is likely to be construed as full acceptance of all the disturbing allegations made by Davies with the rapid territorial gains in vast areas of Nigerian soil, and what appears as imminent fall of key cities and towns to the insurgents.”
The forum urged the president to immediately overhaul the leadership of the military to arrest the barbaric killings of innocent citizens in the country, while also calling on Nigeria not to concede any territory to the Boko Haram insurgents.
The group urged Nigerians to support a re-organised and better equiped military to defend the country, including far-reaching measures to enable Jonathan to win the war in no distant time Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress, APC, has call for independent investigation on Ihejirika and Modu Sheriff.
APC said the allegation is too weighty for Ihejirika and Sheriff to just walk away without being investigated. The APC chairman in Enugu State, Dr. Ben Nwoye, who briefed newsmen in Enugu yesterday, said that it would be wrong to wave the allegation off, just because some persons in the corridors of power may not feel comfortable with such allegation coming from a respectable authority such as Davis.
Nwoye insisted that Ihejirika and Sheriff should clear themselves of the allegation if they insist it is not true by submitting themselves to independent investigation.
The APC Chairman said that Davis is not a Nigerian politician, adding that it was shameful that the Federal Government is now denying knowledge of Davis activities even when the Department for State Security Service, DSS, was aware that Davis was around for the negotiation.
Nwoye also said that Davis should be investigated to find out if his allegations were made out of malice.
“It is wrong for the Federal Government to take sides on this issue, Boko Haram is not an issue to be tossed around with, it’s about human life, those accused should be asked to submit themselves to investigation,” Nwoye said.
No comments:
Post a Comment