‘Politicians Desperate For Power In 2015 Behind Boko Haram Insurgency’

The Director-
General of the Taskforce on Illegal
Importation of Small Arms and Light
Weapons, Chief Emmanuel Okereke, has
kicked against calls by some Nigerians
for President Goodluck Jonathan to visit
Chibok community in Borno State, saying
the entire episode smacks of “sabotage
and scam”.
In the wake of Boko Haram’s abduction
of over 200 schoolgirls from Government
Secondary School, Chibok, in April,
President Jonathan was berated for not
deeming it possible to visit the
community and commiserate with
distraught parents of the abducted
girls. A supposed visit in May was
reportedly cancelled after it was leaked
to the press as the president instead
chose to attend a summit on Boko Haram
in Paris, France.
Speaking after he was conferred with an
award in Abuja by the Southern Youths
For Peace Initiatives, Okereke, who was a
former presidential candidate of
African Liberation Party in the 2011
general elections, blamed the Boko
Haram on “desperate politicians
scheming for power in the 2015 general
elections”.
He recalled that the West African
Examination Council (WAEC) had earlier
advised the Borno State Government
against allowing students to sit for the
exams in Chibok owing to the inadequate
provision of security for its officials and
students alike.
“The wave of insurgency had soared and
the President came to save the country.
Yet, people are saying he should go to
Chibok. People say President Jonathan
should go to Chibok; for what? In a
country where there are governors and
Minister of Education? In fact, the
whole Chibok issue is a sabotage and
scam.
“Politicians who are desperate for power
in the 2015 general elections are the
people sponsoring Boko Haram. About 30
per cent of the country’s borders
remained unmanned by security agents”,
he said.