The All Progressives Congress has challenged President Goodluck Jonathan to arrest and hand over former governor of Borno State, Ali Modu Sheriff and former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejerika, to the International Criminal Court.National Chairman of the APC, John Oyegun, gave the challenge on Tuesday, at a media briefing in Abuja.
He spoke on the party’s stand on a recent revelation by a Federal Government appointed negotiator that the duo were among sponsors of the terrorist group.
According to Oyegun, the truth about the seemingly intractable insurrection is finally out and the APC had been vindicated.
He explained that it was now clear that contrary to an orchestrated plot by the ruling party and officials of government, the APC has no hand in the Boko Haram insurgency.
Oyegun said, “The sponsors of Boko Haram are within the PDP and the Presidency. They are known friends of President Jonathan. He knows them and they know him.
“The man who exposed these Boko Haram sponsors is a Jonathan-appointed negotiator. He has no axe to grind, neither does he have any motive to shield the APC or portray the PDP Presidency in bad light. In fact, if he had any sympathy at all, it is for the man who hired him - President Jonathan.
“We have said it all along. Boko Haram was politicised purely for one reason, and one reason only: To be used as a trump card for President Jonathan to win another term.”
The party said in a desperate bid to make this strategy work, the PDP which sees the APC as the only stumbling block to its victory in 2015, has employed the tactic of maligning and labeling it.
Oyegun accused politicians under the platform of the ruling party such as the party’s spokesman, Olisa Metuh, of orchestrating this strategy by calling the APC a janjaweed and Islamic party.
The APC noted that it was in the process of this dangerous politics, that the Nigerian military, which was globally acclaimed for its impressive showings at various peacekeeping missions around the world, simply suffered collateral damage.
It accused fifth columnists in the military of selling the force out, first by denying it of the necessary fighting tools and then weakening it to such an extent that even the little it had was being taken away daily by insurgents.
The party also noted that when Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State tried to raise the issue of the poorly-equipped troops and their low morale, he was roundly pilloried.
“Now that the cat has been let out of the bag and the real sponsors of Boko Haram have been exposed, we hope President Jonathan will summon the courage to do the right thing: Hand over the identified Boko Haram sponsors to the International Criminal Court for investigation and prosecution,” Oyegun added.
There is no doubt that Boko Haram has committed crimes against humanity in its scorched-earth campaign against unharmed citizens, and the most appropriate body to investigate and try the sect’s sponsors is the ICC.
Reacting to allegations leveled against Sheriff, the immediate past Borno State Commissioner for Information and Home Affairs, Mr. Inuwa Bwala, dismissed claims linking his former boss to the insurgents.
Bwala said, “Political opponents have tried and failed in the past to link SAS to this insurgency, this attempt also shall fail.
“It is public knowledge that Senator Sherriff is being targeted by the insurgents, he has lost some of his close relations and friends in attacks carried out by this group how can any right thinking person claim that this same man is sponsoring the group?”
Attempts to get a reaction from the PDP were unsuccessful as at the time of filing this report.
Calls made to the mobile telephone number of the national Publicity Secretary of the party, Olisa Metuh, indicated that the phone was switched off while a text message sent to him was yet to be responded to as at the time of filing this report.