Another Jonathan-era arms scandal is unfolding under Buhari. The NSA told BBC Hausa that Billions disbursed for the purchase of weapons and equipment DISAPPEARED under the sacked Service Chiefs, now ambassadors. He said he hopes Buhari will probe it. #Abayomigate or #Burataigate?
Here’s what he said as translated by Daily Trust,
“It isn’t that we are not working to end the security challenge in the country. The president has done his own part and allocated huge amount of money to purchase weapons but they are yet to be here. We don’t know where they are.”
“I am not saying that the past Service Chiefs have diverted the money, but presently we don’t know where the money is... I can’t say the money was stolen but we didn’t see anything and even the new Service Chiefs said they didn’t see the weapons.”
“It is possible the weapons are on their way coming. Maybe from America, England and other places but as at now, I didn’t see anything and the Service Chiefs too didn’t see any weapons too.”
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In 2018, a lady trafficked from Kano to Oman reached out to me seeking help. The agent offered them a job in Saudi Arabia. Given every Muslim’s eagerness to visit the Holy Land, she didn’t hesitate to accept saying, “If nothing, I’d be honoured with a visit to the Prophet (SAW)”.
On getting to Lagos, the agent collected her and other victims’ passports and never returned them until they got to departure. He didn’t show them the tickets either. They first landed somewhere she thinks was Cairo and then flew to another country that they’re told was Saudi.
It took them days to discover that it wasn’t Saudi, by which time they had each been handed over to their “master”. Hers was a nasty man with a cruel wife and son. She would work like a donkey in the daytime while being beaten by the woman. At night, the father and son raped her.
In this article, @BokoWatch examined Gov. Zulum’s recommendations in the wake of the #ZabarmariMassacre. The author worried that Zulum is drifting from his “soft” war on BH to a “hard” one. With respect, I think Jacob misconstrued Zulum’s position on this. strongcitiesnetwork.org/en/guest-artic…
Gov. Zulum has always advocated for the use of force on BH and I think he’s right. A vicious terrorists group that targets civilians deserves all the military might in the world. Violence must be used to prevent the group’s fighters from killings & destruction and decimate them.
The Zulum economic and education approach Jacob highlighted are first intended to ameliorate the hardship BH has plunged civilians into, but may also address some of the factors pushing people to BH. I think it should continue but it shouldn’t be a trade off for force against BH.
BBC Hausa reports that 15 security forces were killed and many injured in an ISWAP attack on the convoy of Gov Zulum yesterday. This followed the one in July that generated controversy. That a sitting Gov would be targeted twice in <3 months shows that BH remains a potent threat.
We often read spurious claims of defeat & chaos in BH from security forces and their surrogates, and those of us that dare tell the truth are branded by paid trolls as unpatriotic or even sympathetic to terrorists. That’s completely false. Nothing could be further from the truth
Lying and gaslighting can’t be patriotic. It’s the opposite cuz it downplays the enormity of the problem and leads to loss of more lives. Getting paid to lie that the threat has subsided when it remains potent is supporting terrorism. We can’t lie our way out of this situation.
The Nigerian Army said today that it has dispersed a commune called Darus Salam in Toto LGA of Nasarawa State. That 410 members, mostly women and children, have surrendered and some weapons have been recovered. Darus Salam is a separatist religious group, but it differs from BH.
It’s a radical group with similar ideology with BH, but it’s non-violent. They believe that Nigeria is soiled with corruption, unbelief & unchastity that one can’t be true Islam there. So it’s incumbent on members to migrate and worship God away from the dirt of cities and towns.
Around the mid-2000s, ideologists of Darus Salam, including their leader Amir Bashir Abdullahi, had debated the founder of Boko Haram Muhammad Yusuf, and declared Yusuf a disbeliever for staying in Maiduguri. Yusuf in turn tagged them disbelievers for holding “too extreme” views.
Kebbi is the only state in its axis largely NOT affected by the growing violence in northwest Nigeria, but some elements are working to disturb this amazing, if not miraculous, record.
Fulani communities in Zuru LGA reported earlier this week that 63 of their members- including
women and children- have been extrajudicially murdered in the past few months by a group of overzealous vigilantes. They said they’ve the particulars and photos of each victim and that the youngest was a 1-yo baby.
The victims said they didn’t do any wrong except they’re Fulanis.
Needless to say, it’s utterly unjust to indict a whole people for the crimes of a few. It’s criminal to kill human beings without justice and due process.
It’s this kind of “jungle justice” that partly took Zamfara and Southern Kaduna to where they’re today. Kebbi must avoid it.
Gov el-Rufai’s claim yesterday that the killings in Southern Kaduna are “organised” by the victims “so that their leaders are invited” to wine & dine with the Governor & be given brown envelopes is untrue, reckless & dangerous. It’s irresponsible of him to make such a statement.
No person in their right senses will believe the absurdity that a people would conspire to kill dozens of their own just to get invited by a bloody politician who will lie to them & give them chicken change. This is another reason why a section of the state doesn’t trust the man.
The crisis in Southern Kaduna has been on for over 20 years now. It’s a vicious cycle of attacks, reprisals and counter-reprisals that is fueled by successive governments’ failure to bring perpetrators to justice, address the underlying causes and reconcile the warring parties.