http://tribune.com.ng/index.php/politics/35360-al-mustaphas-marriage-with-boko-haram-the-inside-details?tmpl=component&print=1&page=


A foreign journalist who witnessed one of the trial sessions of Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, ex- Chief Security Officer (CSO) to late General Sani Abacha, was exasperated at the deep divisions in the Nigerian polity. He wondered how a man accused of committing murder of a prominent woman would be treated as a folk hero by a part of the country represented by a section of the crowd in the court premises.
His description of the scene was gripping: “As a convoy of security trucks roared away, the crowd rushed forward, pressing their hands and faces against the barred windows of the van holding Major Al-Mustapha, crying “God is Great” in Arabic. The chanting crowd gathered around a local Imam, shouting prayers for his release, their hands raised to the sky.”  God, apparently, did not answer that prayer as Al’Mustapha was sentenced to death by hanging by a Lagos High Court judge on Monday.
Al’Mustapha was found guilty of using Sergeant Barnabas Mshelia, a member of the hit squad he controlled in the Presidential Villa to kill Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, wife of Chief MKO Abiola. During the trial, the former CSO admitted, under cross examination, that the Abacha regime had a para-military squad called the “Special Strike Force (SF), and specially-trained Bodyguards known as “BG” that were used to “contain/repel all aggressive/offensive attacks on the government.” (See photo above)
The Strike Force (SF) was created by then National Security Board (NSB) on January 2, 1995 and began work in May of that year. Its members were sent for training in Libya while the Bodyguards (BG) went to North Korea for their own trainings. The BG was made up of 300 men while the para-military Strike Force was made up of 80. The Strike Force’s commanding officer (CO), according to a former colleague of Al Mustapha, Lt. Col. Ibrahim Yakassai, was one  Lt Ikilana.
Across the far North, it was not difficult to see how the Hausa Fulani viewed the verdict as they lined up behind Al’Mustapha. The Yoruba in the South-West, where Kudirat Abiola came from, hailed the death verdict on Al’Mustapha as just and in equal measure. However, a surprising position was taken by a leader of the Niger Delta militants, Asari Dokunbo, who saw the death sentence from the prism of presidential politics and as a continuation of the attacks targeted at bringing down the Jonathan presidency. He apparently saw it as part of an agenda by the Yoruba, going by the wordings and the tone of his reaction:
“The treachery and conspiracy against Goodluck Jonathan will fail. When your man, Obasanjo, was there for eight years, he (Al’ Mustapha) didn’t get a conviction. Umar Musa Yar’adua was there, he didn’t get a conviction. Shame on you Yoruba. Your conspiracy will fail also.”
The interesting divisive politics introduced into the purely criminal trial showed how tenuous the bonds holding the nation together are. Suspicions of ethnicity and tribal politics always wrack every action of government. Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Nigeria’s first and only Prime Minister, at a point in the discharge of his duties, turned to Dr Omololu Olunloyo, a Yoruba academic/political icon, to share his frustrations at dispensing justice without fear or favour. He told him:  “Dr Olunloyo, I caught an Igbo thief, but they said I cannot prosecute him unless I catch a Hausa and a Yoruba thief.” Such experience is common across all divides in Nigeria and has been a pointer to the fault lines of the country’s oneness.
The question that rankles since Monday’s verdict and the almost instant reaction from Boko Haram threatening to kill judges has been : where is the connection between a murder trial and a Jihadist movement? An answer to the question became particularly more important and urgent when, on Tuesday, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) held an emergency closed door meeting in Kaduna  with the now twin agenda of Al Mustapha’s conviction and the problem of Boko Haram as the sole issue for discussion. As that meeting held, the question analysts asked was : when has the conviction of an individual become a regional problem to warrant holding an emergency meeting by a respected organisation like the ACF?
Analysts contend that if there were doubts on the linkage between the problem of Boko Haram and the several historical, unresolved issues such as the continued incarceration of Al Mustapha, that ACF meeting just cleared the fog. Thus, while Kudirat’s daughter, Hafsat, was elated by the conviction of Al Mustapha,  declaring her joy that “at last”, there was justice for her mother, a rash of angry reactions raced through the Hausa- Fulani north where Al Mustapha comes from.
However, as noted by the American-based Security Weekly magazine last week,” while undoubtedly some connections between some northern politicians and Boko Haram exist, it would be simplistic to suggest such politicians completely control Boko Haram.” That security journal analysed Boko Haram and came to a conclusion that its stated goals have remained largely fluid, while its operations, though deadly, are still regional, as the sect justifies its activities with teachings from the Quran and the Hadith. 
From left: Late General Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha and former Foreign Affairs Minister, Chief Tom Ikimi, in a deep discusion in the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
However, Professor Muqtedar Khan, an associate professor of political science and international relations and Fellow of the US Institute of Social Policy and Understanding, in a piece which he subtitled “The Exclusivist Theology”, explained how terrorism get spread and driven by clerics through the use of Islamic sources.  He argued that some Imams choose from the Quran, the Hadith and the Sunnah what could only justify their disposition to members of other faiths, particularly Christianity. 
“Islamic sources are often used by radical Imams to recruit Muslim youth to join their terrorist movements. Islamic sources, like all religious sources, are used by Muslim scholars and political elite in the service of their politics. Today, the Muslim world is divided. Some Muslims live in the West, they wish to live in the West and many Western values such as freedom of religion, thought and economic prospects attract them to the West. For other Muslims, West is the enemy that attacks and occupies it and they hate and despise. Thus, there are Muslims who love to live free in the West and then, there are those who wish to live free from the West.
“Both these groups use Islamic sources to legitimise their politics. Muslims, who condemn terrorism, point to verse 5:32 in the Quran - ‘He who kills an innocent soul is as if he has killed all of humanity’ — to argue that Islam condemns terrorism. Those who wish to advocate Jihad focus on other verses such as Quran 2:216 — ‘fighting has been enjoined upon you while you dislike it. But perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you.’
“Muslims who seek to live in peace and harmony with Christians and Jews point to verses in the Quran that praise them as people of the book and recognise their spiritual worth such as Quran 3:113-3:115 - ‘Among the people of the book, there are those who are righteous, they recite the verses of God, and pray to him, they believe in God, in the day of judgment, call people to good and forbid evil, and the good that they do will not be taken from them.’ “
There is also Prophet Muhammed’s 628AD message to St. Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai, promising that Muslims of all ages would protect Christians and their property. (See box on page 25).
As for Boko Haram, its very existence is based on a repudiation of everything western including its values and the virtues of its institutions. But it has shown that it is not completely apolitical, given its reported reaction to Al Mustapha’s death sentence and its threat to kill judges. Could it have joined the Al Mustapha  fray simply because the former CSO is a muslim? Analysts wonder if the group had forgotten that Kudirat, the woman murdered in cold blood in June 1996, was also a Muslim. They argue further that except the Hausa Fulani believe the Western wrong notion of Christian south and Muslim north, there should have not been any schism in the perception of the Muslim ummah on this matter. Islam, they say, forbids shedding of innocent blood and treats women with absolute care. So, in dabbling into this case involving lives of a southern Muslim woman (Kudirat) and a northern Muslim man (Al Mustapha), is Boko Haram not saying it is pursuing a regional agenda? Hussein Ibish, a senior Fellow at the American Task Force on Palestine, in a recent article, considers homegrown terrorism as “ a marginal phenomenon attracting fringe, alienated and isolated individuals” driven by political goals.
“Such extremists do not have a theology as such, and are largely driven by political, rather than religious ideas, although their sense of the political may be expressed through religiously-inflected language. Generally speaking, such extremists are motivated by a paranoid and chauvinist worldview akin to ethnic nationalism. This is also true of the more organised self-described “Salafist-Jihadist” groups like Al Qaeda in the Islamic world.”
While Boko Haram succeeded during the week in effectively joining Al Mustapha’s case to the politics of its operations, the whole world has woken up to the reality of the emergency the sect represents to humanity. Indeed, spokesman of the sect, Abu Qaqa, told the Guardian (of London) last Saturday that the group’s visage goes beyond Nigeria. “We look at the whole world,” he says just as the group’s operations gather better tact, strategy and precision.
To underscore the global importance of the Nigerian security challenges, United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, at the just-concluded African Union summit in Adis Ababa, said the whole world was behind Nigeria as it battles Boko Haram. Earlier, last week, a report issued by the UN said  “large quantities of weapons and ammunition from Libyan stockpiles were smuggled into the Sahel region,” the report said. The CNN listed the weapons as including “rocket-propelled grenades, explosives and even anti-aircraft artillery.”
“Some of the weapons may be hidden in the desert and could be sold to terrorist groups like al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Boko Haram or other criminal organisations,” the U.N. report said. Amidst all these, there were reports that some northern governors were funding the sect,  a charge the sect and the affected governors denied vehemently during the week. While the affected governors  distanced themselves from the sect and Boko Haram denied any link to any political party in Nigeria, it is instructive that states where the sect’s attacks had been very devastating and widespread are Borno, Yobe and Kano which were under the opposition All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP)  when the sect’s activities became overtly violent around 2009.
Indeed, an aide of one of the ex governors told The Friday Edition on Monday this week that the sect members  “were around” when his boss was in power in that particular state, but were well managed through certain institutional frameworks which reined in their activities. He, however, blamed the current state of insecurity in that particular state to “ the mismanagent of the situation by the new government.”
Could all these security challenges facing Nigeria be in fulfilment of a prophecy limiting Nigeria’s existence to 2015? Is there any link between that American prophecy and a reported 1983 CIA plot to get Nigeria broken up without hurting American interest? The Nigerian Tribune of April 13,1983 (about 29 years ago) published a secret memo referenced SS/RP3 of February 14, 1983 with the subject “Outline of US policy on Nigeria.” Part of the policy outline was a future breaking up of Nigeria with American interest protected. An interesting possible nexus between the 1983 memo and the security cum political issues playing out in Nigeria at the moment is the politicisation (by the North) of the murder case of the wife of Bashorun MKO Abiola, Kudirat. The 1983 memo spoke about “Operation Heartburn” and “Operation Headache”  detailing what were referred to as “wet affairs”,  one of which targetted solving “the problem” of MKO Abiola; the other targeting Chief Obafemi Awolowo who was then presidential candidate of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN).  The recipient of that memo was then US Ambassador to Nigeria, Thomas Pickering. Although the American government that time (1983) denied those claims, describing them as patently false and absurd , Ambassador Pickering incidentally was part of the American delegation 15 years later in 1998, meeting with Abiola in detention in Abuja when he suddenly took ill and packed up right in their presence.
The American Ambassador to Nigeria at the time of MKO’s death, William Twaddel, had earlier worked with Pickering in the same embassy as political secretary when the 1983 memo was received. One of the successors of these two envoys, Ambassador John Campbell, was the one who predicted year 2015 as Nigeria’s own terminal date. Indeed, Campbell was a political counsellor  in the US embassy in Lagos between 1988 and 1990 and has been very regularly involved in the ongoing discussions on the Boko Haram and other very potent threats to the continued corporate existence of Nigeria such as the last fuel subsidy crisis and the threat by the Niger Delta to break away from Nigeria in the event of anything happening to the government of their “son,” Goodluck Jonathan. Campbell has repeatedly, in recent weeks, advised the American government not to do anything that would hurt its traditional friends in the North.
Looking again at Boko Haram, Campbell last week (Wednesday 25 January, 2012) noted that unlike MEND, Boko Haram is more focused on political power. “This, (the Boko Haram problem) reflects concerns by the Northern elite that Jonathan’s decision to end an informal agreement to alternate presidential power between the Muslim North and Christian South before the 2011 presidential elections will exclude the North from any possibility of future control of the state. 
Further, there is a radical Islamic dimension to Boko Haram’s fight, focused on “justice” for the common people vis-à-vis the resource-rich, corrupt state. Some of the group’s operatives have adopted a violent stance against the “evil” Federal Government. Its attacks against police stations are far bloodier than those MEND ever committed in the Delta.
“If the Jonathan government persists in dealing with Boko Haram as a security issue without acknowledging and addressing the political dimension to the insurrection, it is likely that the conflict will intensify. The impotence of the police, military and security services so far indicates that the Abuja government does not have the ability or resources to destroy Boko Haram.
Although the Jonathan government is looking for help from the international community, there is little evidence that additional security resources can turn the tide.
“Money will not solve the Boko Haram problem, and a political settlement would require a restructuring of Nigerian politics that would be difficult for any presidential administration to achieve. Some political and civil society leaders are calling for a “sovereign national conference” that would review the fundamental political and economic issues at stake and draw up a new constitution. While this type of radical course has been unacceptable to those who run the central government, in the end they may have no choice,” Campbell declared.
While the politics of Al Mustapha’s conviction fuse into the larger (yet undefined)  goals of Boko Haram, some key figures up North have adopted very interesting middle -of -the -road position on the matter. One of those northern leaders is Nasir El Rufai, a former minister who is increasingly taking on the toga of opposition leader from the north. On his twitter handle on Monday, he expressed optimism that Al Mustapha could regain his freedom, if he went on appeal.
“ Al-Mustapha and Shofoluwe have been convicted of the murder of Kudirat Abiola after more than 12 years of detention. They can appeal. There is nothing religious or ethnic about the convictions. We should desist from making them so. The convictions can be quashed on appeal.
While I am personally against capital punishment, the law now allows it. Kudirat was killed. She was a mother and wife. Justice must prevail. Those who condemn or celebrate the convictions are both wrong. Law must be upheld. The 12 year detention is wrong and some compensation due! Every conviction for murder MUST be automatically appealed, and can, on points of law, be quashed, between 2-4 years from now!”
Al Mustapha has since appealed that death verdict while discussions on the Nigerian national question continue.