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http://www.peoplesdaily-online.com/news/national-news/24786-boko-haram-debunks-sss-report-says-it-is-a-game-plan-


Boko Haram debunks SSS report, says ‘it is a game plan’
Wednesday, 23 November 2011 16:26 administrator


By our Reporter





Spokesman of Jama’atu Ahlis Sunnah Lid’dawa’ati Wal Jihad (Boko Haram), Sheikh Abu Zaid, has refuted newspaper reports credited to the State Security Service (SSS) which claimed to have arrested the sect’s former spokesman, Usman Al-Zawahiri in Maiduguri.





In a telephone interview with our correspondent in Bauchi, Sheikh Zaid said: “We read in the newspapers that Usman Al-Zawahiri was arrested by Nigeria’s security agents in Maiduguri. It was claimed that he was our spokesman.

“It is one of those desperate attempts to cover their failure to arrest the situation, exonerate the former governors of Borno, Gombe and the present governor of Bauchi state. Their intention is to use opponents of the ANPP and Modu Sheriff as scapegoats to achieve an aim. Al-Zawahiri has never been our member. He was a political thug in ECOMOG”.

Zaid added that, “security agencies are desperate to cover their failure. We shall continue to protect and defend our lives until we achieve our aim. We were deceived many times by government officials in Borno, Bauchi and Gombe states. Nigeria’s President is a victim of high class deceit by his own security agencies relating to our operations. We have strategies and we have specific targets and we shall launch our attacks at our own convenience”, he said.

According to him, “those usually arrested and paraded before my colleagues in the media are not members of our sect but are street urchins and other miscreants who are either members of the dreaded Maiduguri based ECOMOG or errand boys of politicians. The SSS parades them for political reasons, to justify the huge spending and to convince the President and the international community that they are on top of the situation which is not true.

Very bad

Quote
ECOMOG are not Boko- Haram
Submitted by wachy (not verified) on November 23, 2011 - 08:12.

please can SSS tell Nigerians the truth for once, ECOMOG-militants are not the real Boko haram, infact the real boko haram emerged because of the excesses of the then gov. Ali Sheriff and his ECOMOG FORCE who terrorize innocent citizens beyond comment and when you report to the police nothing is going to happen. That was when the real boko haram started asking Ali sherif to stop spraying money on the street but the gov. could not listen, so BH started preaching against the gov. openly. the gov then instructed police to deal with the real BH whom were known as "YUSUFIYYA GROUP" by killing 2 of its members on the ground of not using crash-helmate, in which the BH demanded for apology but the police instead of apology started arresting its members and every thing went sour. ECOMOG FORCE are known to every body in Borno state not just maiduguri. SSS should go after the real BH and not to used these to cover for its failure to protect innocent Nigerians. THANX


http://saharareporters.com/news-page/boko-haram-senator-ndume-arraigned-terrorism-charges


the quoted was lifted from the comments on sahara reporters. . . .a link i have also made available

before we sit in judgment or debate . . . lets understand this, none of us are on ground in maiduguri  and this quoted reply interests me, for it bellies the opinion of the average sule on the streets of Borno

which brings me to this question? who should we believe?
[quote][/quote]true

lukesh:
A claw in the bottle, revelation of cans of worm

This is the truth

Those of us who live in maiduguri know that, there is indeed a lot of cover up. The spokeman mentioned three names. Why is only one picked for prosecution? How can a politician sponsor another human being to commit suicide bombing? How much money is a human life worth? There are thousands of Boko Haram suspects in SSS detention who have made statements, why was this one "Usman Sanda Konduga" aka "alzawahiri" singled out to talk in front of the Cameras? Some of the people he mentioned are still alive, why was Ndume singled out for arrest and prosecution?
Ali sherifs name has been consistently named in connection with boko haram.He has as yet not been invited for questioning.
In any case the arrested is an imposter as he himself has admitted he was expelled from the group earlier. And if its true, going by the track record of Boko Haram, he would have been long executed if indeed he ever belonged to the group.

THE self-acclaimed chief spokesman of the dreaded Boko Haram sect, Ali Sanda Umar Konduga, popularly known in media circles as Usman Al-Zawahiri, has been

nabbed by the Department of State Security Service (SSS), just as he opened up on those backing the sect.



Fielding questions from newsmen at the SSS headquarters in Abuja, on Monday, Umar named former Governor Ali Modu Sheriff, the late Ambassador Sheidu Pinda and serving Senator Ali Ndume, both of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as the real brains behind the group in Borno State.

Umar, who spoke through an interpreter, explained that members of the group had a good working relationship with former Governor Sheriff, of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) until he fell out with the group after sacking a member of the group from his cabinet, a commissioner, who was later murdered.

kcjazz:
I would love to hear why he has not visited Maiduguri, at least to console victims

i wonder

Abayomin70:
yes a real TEBLIK mugun

true talk

THE HYPOCRICY OF GOVERNOR PATRICK IBRAHIM YAKOWA OF KADUNA STATE AND OTHER NORTHERN STATE GOVERNORS. LAST YEAR DURING THE RAMADAN PERIOD, HE AND OTHERS APPROVED MONEY FOR THE FEEDING OF THE MUSLIM UMMAH WHO WERE UNDER-PRIVILEDGED IN THEIR STATE SOLELY MEANT TO IMPRESS AND TO CURRY FAVOUR OF THE ELECTORATES, AS ELECTIONS WERE BEHIND THE CORNER THEN. NOW THAT THEY ARE IN POWER, THEY HAVE NOT DEEMED IT FIT TO RE-INTRODUCE THE FEEDING PROGRAMME FOR THE LESS PRIVILEDGE. HYPOCRICY OF THE HIGHEST ORDER. ONLY BAUCHI STATE GOVERNMENT HAS SO FAR APPROVED THE SUM OF N339 MILLION FOR THIS YEAR FEEDING PROGRAMME FOR THE LESS PRIVILEDGE IN THE STATE. AND WITH THIS GESTURE, WE WILL CONSIDER CEASING HOSTILITY IN BAUCHI STATE, EXCEPT WHEN PROVOKED OR UNDERFIRE FROM THE ENEMY, culled from their website

The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has blamed a former governor of Borno State, Ali Modu Sherrif, for the rise of the violent Boko Haram group. Chairman of the Forum, Jeremiah Useni told journalists at the State House Abuja, after a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan and Vice President Namadi Sambo on ways to addressing the upsurge in violence, that Mr Sherrif’s maladministration and policy of using and dumping youths in the state was the cause of the anger directed against government by members of the group.

Mr Useni, who condemned the use of violence as a means of settling grievances, blamed Mr Sherrif for neglecting the youth in the state after using them to achieve his political aims. “I remember when I was the deputy national chairman of the ANPP, I went to Borno State to commission some projects and when we were driving along one of the major streets, I saw young boys selling petrol in jerry cans and I asked the governor why he allowed them to be selling on a major road like that, and he said, ‘no, no, leave them; they are very useful during general elections. We can use them to turn everywhere.’

chei

A new Phase

tell Jonathan to declare a state of emergency in Borno and Plateau. Those who are supposed to act have not done so. Such acts can naturally thrive if no authority checks it

excerpts from yakubu tildes discourse
Since the advent of Jonathan’s presidency, we have returned to the olden days where northerners are collectively lampooned and criticized for many things. The words “North” and “Northerners” are used at different times, by different authors and for different motives to mean geographical North, the so-called core North or the Muslim North. The victims also vary: some northerners like Christians and so called minorities are occasionally spared. Others – like the Hausa and Fulani Muslims – receive a full dose of the venom any time the North is mentioned. They bear the brunt whenever something goes wrong in the country. The last group also receives some ‘koboko’ from other northern whenever religion is involved. They are collectively described in such hate commentators as lazy, corrupt, inept, arrogant, illiterates, selfish, reactionary, retrogressive, beggars,parasites, incompetent, mumus, etc. Added to this, especially after 9/11, such commentators say they are Muslims who adhere to Islam, the religion of terrorism that calls for killing others and is against democracy, liberty of freedom. The South should break, wrote someone, “and become like India” while the North remains backward like Pakistan.”
I have tried for the purpose of balancing to find similar accusations of Southerners by northern writers in the conventional press or online but I cannot find any! That means if there are some, they must be very few. I cannot also remember any northerner saying Southerners are this bad thing or another even in the heat of the ongoing zoning debate. (Perhaps, it is for the lack of such labels from the North, in 2005, someone had to publish an abusive article against Southerners in Amanaonline website using my name at its author just to tarnish my name among them. That year, I also received some hate mails purported to originate from Mohammed Haruna using another fake email. Neither Mohammed nor I bothered to reply them.) I am, therefore, compelled to restrict myself in this article to only what is said against northerners. Interested readers can go to the comments posted at the bottom my last article in Saharareporters and other similar sites.
Let me start by handling the issue of corruption because it is the mother of all accusations. Take for instance what Sunday Kayode said in reaction to Discourse 305: “All leaders that came from the North are thieves. Where did you get your Dr from…University of Maiduguri? Idiot.” I assume that Mr. Kayode is an educated person since at least he knows there is a university in Maiduguri. If Kayode was abusive in his language, another reader was very civil, though he implied the same thing: “Are there no other better candidates from the North apart from IBB, Gusau, Atiku and Saraki?” Both readers were not fair to the North. The North did give Nigeria a number of credible people. It forwarded Tafawa Balewa during the First Republic as Prime Minister. No one has ever accused him of corruption. Then there were also Murtala and Buhari, none of them to the understanding of Nigerians exhibited any corrupt tendency during their brieftenures. Added to them are Gowon and Shagari, who are also saints by today’s standard. The two led Nigeria during periods of oil boom but they did not leave office with 10% of the wealth stolen by Cecilia Ibru. They were not strong rulers, agreed, as they allowed many to loot the treasury unchecked; yet, they cannot in their person be accused of corruption. Let us recall that all those who celebrated their first one billion naira during the Shagari era, people like Chief Akinloye, were southerners. On the other hand, the entire rice importation for which the much demonized Umaru Dikko was supposed to make his money was just about N200million.
Now let us come to those on whom corruption charges justifiably hang: Babangida, Abacha and Abdulsalami Abubakar. I cannot defend any of these three. But if we look at the South, we realize that it did not produce many angels better than the three. Obasanjo was extremely corrupt, as we have seen during his eight years tenure. People speak of missing $12billion dollar gulf war windfall during Babangida but they hardly say anything today about the $16billion stolen during Obasanjo’s administration on electricity projects alone. Members of various southern discussion groups must have read the recent damning article on Babangida written by the veteran journalist, Naiwu Isahon. He conceded that Obasanjo was worse than Babangida when he opened his latest article by saying, “Apart from Obasanjo, Babangida is the greatest evil ever to befall any country in the world.”
The scion of Obasanjo, Jonathan, is now proving to be like father like son. The corruption tales of his short tenure so far are damning, that is not to mention his brief tenure as the Governor of Bayelsa State from which his wife is investigated for. Now that the PDP – the largest corruption machine in the country – is in crisis, its members who are opposed to Jonathan are telling us how our foreign reserves have been depleted by more than $30 billion in the last few months, in addition to diversion of several billions from ministerial coffers to finance projects and not to mention the corruption regarding contracts in the NNPC. I am sure we will learn more about these shortly. Some like Ojiji Omo have already reached their conclusion: “The making of a tyrant. That man in bowler hat (Azikwe Jonathan) will be worse than Abacha, IBB and OBJ put together”, he said via an email published in Naijaobserver group. I hope we are not heading for the days where IBB, Abacha and Abdulsalami will be promoted to the position of angels by the sheer quantum of corruption under Obasanjo and Jonathan.
On candidates, it will be fair to say that the North has forwarded all sorts of candidates, fitting whatever inclination a Nigerian voter may have – for or against corruption. Of course, if you are for corruption, the PDP candidates from the North are there. Safe journey. If you are for transparency, you are welcome. Buhari is here. As Simon Kolawole of Thisday said recently, to his knowledge, no one has so far accused him of corruption. What would prevent majority of Southerners from voting for him instead of any corrupt candidate in 2011? Did their majority do that when he contested against Obasanjo in 2003 or against ‘Yaradua in 2007? I have read some saying Buhari is old and has military background. Good. Nuhu Ribadu is here. Oya now. He is young, handsome, honest and civilian. But would the majority of the South abandon Jonathan and vote for him? Even if you say you want an honest woman President that is decent, we fit produce am. Mama Sarah Jibril is here. Ngwano, biko. Some say Buhari is ‘shariatist.’ Okay. Take Atiku. He has since 2001 declared himself ‘shariah non-compliant’ at a party in Lagos. What prevents these commentators from seeing these aspirants? I salute people like Pastor Tunde Bakare and many others who are not given to sentiments in choosing the candidates they will support in 2011.
Now, let us move to the general public. Is it true that northerners are corrupt, more than their Southern counterparts? I would not like to resort to guess work. There is an anti-corruption commission, the EFCC. Let us consult it and find out the distribution of corruption among Nigerians. It presents us with a list of fifty-four ongoing corruption cases that it is prosecuting before various high courts in the country as at this morning. I have presented 49 of them that are Nigerian in the table below, giving the amounts involved and the side of the country from which each of the accused persons hails.

your article was ten years ago. Read an an interview with him on what happened,

I leave you guys with the excerpts from a buhari interview below



Question: General, I hope you’re aware that some years ago there was a controversy around a statement credited to you somewhere in Sokoto state in which you are reported to have said that Muslims should vote for Muslims. Now whether you were misquoted or not, whether you were misrepresented or not, that has caused some anxiety and some concern, understandably, to some Christians in the south of the country, in the Middle Belt, even in the north itself. So how do you intend to sell your candidacy to those people who have perceived you wrongly or rightly as a sectional candidate who is popular in the North because he is seen as the champion of Islam and Sharia? How do you propose to appeal to people who are concerned legitimately and anxious about you being a president who will implement Sharia nationally or who will limit the rights of Christians and promote the interest of Muslims? I want you to speak to those people.

General Buhari: Well, that perception remains. I know in 2003 I wrote to many Bishops and I could recall I visited (inaudible) in 2003 and 2007. As you said, it happened in Sokoto in 2000 before I participated in elections. The person who reported me by tribe is a Yoruba man, by religion a Muslim. He was not in Sokoto and does not understand Hausa, maybe he still doesn’t. How he got the story I don’t know. And the comment I made was that people in Sokoto know their people, that when the ban on politics is lifted they should choose the people that will represent them responsibly. This is common sense: if someone aspires to rule this country, he cannot afford to offend even pagans or even atheists—those who don’t even believe in God. These are the people that will vote. How can I say Muslims should not vote for Christians? Then do I expect Christians to vote me, a Muslim? I wrote to the Bishops. I explained to them, but I think, as you mentioned, perception, people hold on to their perception. Even the church leaders were careful to explain to their flock that there is no way any leader will, at the federal level, antagonize any of the religions. So, I wrote to the Bishops to explain but I am still very surprised that the perception remains.

So there is nothing I can do about it, but I will continue to explain my position. And I have backed it by facts that I have served the country’s military for 25 years. I did all the command and staff work, as a platoon commander to General Officer Commanding and the only still surviving officers that commanded three of the four commands in the Nigerian Army. And the Nigerian Army is about 75% Christian and nobody has ever said I took a decision against anybody because of his religion or his tribe. There are other tribes in the whole command. So, if for politically it sticks that I don’t like Christians, well it is very very unfortunate, but my performance in office at all stages has portrayed me as an impartial person, and I have believe that whoever is still bringing that case up, for whatever vote, will definitely fail in a free and fair election. The question of me being a sharia advocate and a hater of Christians has never happened and it will certainly fail.

share lies. He never said any such thing. There is no way Buhari or any leader in Nigeria to Sugest. This is smear campaign

Sharia and Sharia practice is for moslems. If you agree to be a moslem, than there is no two way about it. That is not to say that pro sharia should implement on a non moslem!!! The constitution of Nigeria is clear on Religion its practice and implementation. Whoever is trying to bring Sharia into campaign is being mischievous or has no understanding of what it means. Please discuss other topics like corruption, unemployment, niger delta, boko haram, insecurity and other real issues

vigasimple:
I don't like PDP either. I am southerner, and with due respect to our Northern brothers, they need 10 brightest Northern guy to match an average southern guy.

If they doubt me, let them square up iBB + Atiku with a recently graduated Southern guy, they will regret the level of their i.q . The north has always forced themselves on ordinary nigerians via bogus population, and religion with the backing of the military. THOSE ARE FACTS, their new found love of ZONINING is the biggest POLITICAL FRAUD, they also know it.

GEJ with all his flaws and perceived dumbness his 10 times smarter than any of them, they are only arrogant and condescending bunch of lunatics.

If in the interest of Nigerians, maybe we southerners should be a tribalist for 1 day afterall the North ahs always ply tribal and religious card at all times.

. You just displayed your I.Q here, just as GEJ did his own at eagle square today. Mr 10 brains u dey try oh! Are you GEJ cousin?

@Nsiman  GEJ said, I came into Abuja to work with late President Yar`Adua (but) along the line Allah…you know the best. Please join me to observe one minute of silence because today, I would have followed him….May his soul rest in peace. followed him to where ? And this is not fumbling?

Odunnu:
He talked about how he implemented an age long decision of every state having a federal university, how there is no case of fuel scarcity from Adamawa to Abia, about healthcare, power and stuff. Mentioned security and how much effort he had put in.
He also said he wasnt going to join issues with hs opponent(Atiku) who kept making anoying and snide rants

He was seriously off the mark. Nigeria deserves a better person as president. Not GEJ. He cant stand before Nigerians at this crucial time and make a case. Fumbling all the way, pity.

GEJ was nearly crying. Not confident and nervous and off the mark. He kept saying issues will be looked into,

gaskiya ba mu dayewa

An honest Nigerian.

Gentlemen, hostage-taking, kidnapping, bombing and such forms of terrorism didn't start today in Jos. Besides religious crises in some parts of the north, these types of violence perhaps has their roots in modern Nigeria in the Niger-Delta. Its funny, or isn't, that all we as intelligent people (so called elites who can read online news) can analyze is to keep calling up names, here and there, this person that person.

We have a grave situation in our hands. Its spiraling out of control. In the longer term, there are serious socio-eco-political underpins to this horrific drama that has to be addressed. In the shorter term, I think the north is reacting angrily to the usurpation of their perceived turn for the presidency as was agreed to in the PDP. I never thought for one moment, that this Jonathan opportunism would go unresponded. And Jonathan and his supporters must understand that they have erred to the wrong end of the moral equation, no matter the historical or geo-political justifications. History is not going to be kind to him and his supporters if this thing goes terribly awful and bloody.

We must call for urgent national prayers as a way of uniting the country against a comman enemy - violence and extremism anywhere. Jonthan must renounce his participation in this 2011 election in my view. Ask for a year extension under perhaps emergency rule from the congress, and begin political reformation, a form of national soverign conference, that will produce a decent federalism and constitution and credible election. He doesn't need 4 years, he can restructure nigerian and put the nation on a long term sustainable political path. This dissipating energy for winning PDP primaries can better be used to restructure Nigeria (a cause greater than him or even this generation of Nigerians) and he would have been an honorable gentleman and great, immemorable African statesman.

Please stop all these name calling and tribal sensationalization of Nigeria. It is not going to be easy to break up Nigerian without a bust. Africa in my opinion is already too fractioned, and yet the problems persists. Even the tinyest clans in Africa are having serious disputes, if not wars.

We are all in a boat in the deep sea, if this rocking ship capsizes, there is none of us that can reach shore without getting wet. Let's work on it calmly, dispassionately and wisely. Thank you.

Even a s a thief, he must be a modest one(Atiku). How come he wants to manipulate a poll on the net, but doing it on 20margin. U guys shold grow up and stop wasting ur energies on trivialities.

CBN sold $800M in one single day this week to support Naira. Despite that, the Naira depreciated by N3.0 at the autonomous market the same day. I think we are beginning the final approach at the failed state.

expences for CBN also includes costs associated with replacing mutilated currency, inspection of all Nigerian Banks etc

Shame. This entity called Nigeria is shredded into pieces by some mindless zealots.

CBN governor blames economic troubles on wasteful politicians

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has blamed the nation's economic troubles on the poor leadership provided by political leaders who lacked the ability to lead the country to the promised land. He also reprimanded the National Assembly for contributing in no small way to the lack of visible development in Nigeria.

Mr. Sanusi said this over the weekend at the 8th convocation lecture of Igbinedion University, Okada, where he was the guest lecturer.

Speaking on the topic, ‘The Future of Nigeria's Economy', he said as long as a quarter of the nation's annual budget goes to the National Assembly as allowances and salaries, it will be difficult for the nation to achieve any meaningful development with the remaining 75 percent, in view of the numerous challenges facing the nation.

He noted that the major factors accounting for the relative decline of the country's economic fortunes are political instability, lack of focused and visionary leadership, economic mismanagement, and corruption. He said the prolonged period of military rule stifled economic and social progress, particularly in the three decades of 1970s to 1990s.

"During these years, resources were plundered, social values were debased, and unemployment rose astronomically with concomitant increase in crime rate. Living standards fell so low, to the extent that some of the best brains with the requisite skills to drive the developmental process left in droves to other nations, and are now making substantial contributions to the economic success of their host countries," he said.

He observed that due to Nigeria's poor infrastructural development, "90 percent of tomatoes produced get wasted between the farm and the market. We produce cassava than any other nation, but we have no [finished] cassava products. We produce crude oil, but we rely on imported fuel.

"Some of us specialised in exporting what we do not produce, but import what we can produce. We export democracy to Liberia by helping them to conduct free elections, but we cannot conduct free elections here," Mr. Sanusi said.

Protesting students Mr. Sanusi predicted that at the rate the country is going, Ghana's economy might overtake Nigeria's in the next 10 years, if nothing is done fast. He urged policy makers to pursue the right policies for the development of the country, saying that the only way forward is to stop complaining and do something.

Earlier, the vice chancellor of Igbinedion University, Eghosa Osaghae, said in view of the worldwide economic crisis, the school management decided to invite Mr. Sanusi, whom he described as a man of uncommon courage and determination, to deliver the lecture on the economy of the country.

The convocation witnessed the first graduation of a doctoral degree candidate from a private university in Nigeria. But the ceremony was itself almost marred by violent protest by some medical students of the institution.

Some of the students alleged that they have been in the school for between six and eight years, and are still paying school fees, whereas they were promised a six-year programme.

Mr. Sanusi helped to douse the initial tension, as he affirmed the students' right to protest, saying that he too engaged in protests during his four years in Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

Mr. Osaghae, who described students of the institution as generally well behaved, alleged that some people sponsored the protest to embarrass the university.

He stated that the problem started when the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, during their last inspection of medical programme of Nigerian universities, closed down some colleges of medicine and withdrew the accreditation of others, including that of Igbinedion University.

"It is regrettable that our accreditation was withdrawn, but we are not the only school affected in that hurricane", Mr. Osaghae said.

He said the school will do everything possible to get re-accredited, which he said is now in the final stage.