Ihejirika Opens Can of Warms on El-Rufai

Says: He is Boko Haram Real Commander; Shekau Takes Orders From Him


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.

Speaking with Vanguard over allegation by the former minister that he
(Ihejirika) and former Governor Modu Sheriff of Borno State were fingered
as terrorists sponsors, General Ihejirika said he is not surprised that
this unimaginable allegation is coming from ‘one of the Boko Haram
Commanders’.

“The (Commanders) including El-Rufai know where the problem is. He should
stop deceiving Nigerians by trying to divert attention”.

According to Ihejirika, “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”.

“If you also remember, not too long ago, some of their supporters
including 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.

Ihejirika who was obviously angry while speaking on phone, also said, “The
likes of El-Rufai started the campaign of human right abuses, in order to
divert the international attention of the heinous crime being committed by
the Boko Haram terrorists”.

Gen. Ihejirika then recalled recent allegations against his person
indicating that that he took away N48 billion, an amount of money which is
still in the coffers of the Ministry of Defence, which can be verified by
anybody adding that he was not surprised that these allegation is coming
from the likes of El-Rufai who started the campaign.

Continuing the former Army Chief said, “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”.
Recalling that the same El-Rufai went to Thisday Newspaper premises to
grant interview to condemn security forces for the efforts at ridding the
country of these senseless mayhem by the terrorists, Ihejirika said, “At
the onset of this crisis, I was the first person to declare that the
country was at war but group of sponsors led by El-Rufai disagreed, that
it was not true”.

“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”.

Furthermore, General Ihejirika said that when the United States was to
initially declare Boko Haram a terrorist organization, the same El-Rufai
and his group mounted pressure on the international community, using
alleged human right abuses as campaign strategy.

The former Army Chief revealed that this same group including El-Rufai
have taken further steps in support of Boko Haram, “which I cannot
disclose for now”.

It will be recalled that shortly after his tenure came to an end as COAS,
some Northern political elites started the crusade for General Azubuike
Ihejirika to be summoned before the International criminal Court in the
Hague claiming that he killed their sons and daughters innocently whereas
it is on record that no other military leader but Ihejirika did a lot in
helping the nation contain the rapid spread of Boko Haram insurgency in
the country.

He not only established the 7th Division of the Nigerian Army with
headquarters in Maiduguri, he established new Army Brigades, Counter
Terrorism Schools in Kachia and Jaji as well as the Terrorism Training
School.

Courtesy: Vanguard