Political conspiracies, sabotage responsible for existence of Boko Haram in Borno - SHAC

By Dansu Peter 

The Save Humanity Advocacy Centre (SHAC) has attributed the lingering activities of Boko Haram terrorists in Borno State to conspiracies and sabotage by the state's political actors. 

SHAC also decried the lack of cooperation by the state government as well as politically motivated hostilities against the Nigerian military.

The centre made these revelations in a report signed by its Special Rapporteur, Dr. Okey Okechukwu and unveiled on Wednesday for distribution to the Office of the President, his Chief of Staff, state governors and the general public. 

" There has been a politically motivated hostility towards the Nigerian troops in parts of Borno State, especially in areas where the government wields enormous political interest. This fact as unhealthy as it sounds has also pitched personnel of the military against some ethnic groups that are probably ignorant of the efforts of the Nigerian Military towards the restoration of peace and order in their communities," the report revealed. 

" It was also observed that the Nigerian Military is experiencing some level of sabotage in their operations with those that are supposed to keep the Nigerian troops informed of the presence of strange faces in their domains, instead prefer to relate such information to the local administrators. They, in turn, convey such to the state capital in Maiduguri and the time lag gives the invaders the latitude to wreak havoc on innocent people.

 "The Save Humanity Advocacy Centre, as a result of its study of the events in North-East Nigeria, concludes that political conspiracies and sabotage are responsible for the existence of Boko Haram in Borno State". 

The centre said in the course of the research, it discovered that five out of six states have been freed from Boko Haram, with normalcy restored. 

This, according to the report,  buttresses the position canvassed in some quarters that the activities of the Boko Haram group have been successfully curtailed barring pockets of attacks in Borno.

As part of its recommendations, the centre, however, advised the government and people of Borno to take a cue from other states by extending support to the security agencies.

It also tasked the government to engage various community and religious leaders to sensitize the youths in the state on the demerits of associating with the Boko Haram group.