What I Know About Boko Haram ––Ali Modu Sheriff Opens Up

Former governor of Borno State, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, has opened up on what he knows about the dreaded Boko Haram insurgents currently ravaging states in the northeast and some other parts of the country, while disclosing that only the neighbouring Republic of Chad could help solve the menace.

Sheriff, while speaking in a BBC Hausa Service magazine programme on Saturday, denied reports saying that Boko Haram started during his tenure as governor of Borno State between 2003 and 2011. He revealed that the radical religious sect actually started in Yobe State in 1992, and that he has been trying to find a lasting solution to it, including talking to the Chadian government.

Secret Intelligence Report Links Ex-Governor Sheriff, Chad President To Boko Haram Sponsorship

New facts showing stronger links between former governor of Borno state, Ali Modu Sheriff, and the Boko Haram sect have emerged, further fuelling suggestions the ex-governor is a major financier of the terrorist sect.

Intelligence insights obtained by PREMIUM TIMES in Maiduguri, Damaturu, and Abuja show dated communications between field officers and the velvet ranks of Nigeria’s military chronicling Mr. Sheriff’s involvement in promoting the growth of the sect.

The communications painted a picture of what appears to be a powerful regional support structure involving the Chadian president, Nigerian officials and Niger Republic, and spearheaded by Mr. Sheriff whom the intelligence presents as a powerful figure within this circle.

Why President Jonathan Could Not Avoid Modu Sheriff In Chad – Aide

A lot has been said about the Presidential visit of President Goodluck Jonathan to his Chadian counterpart, the main issue being the inclusion of Ali Modu Sheriff in the delegation that received the President on arrival.
Ali Modu Sheriff has been accused of been a sponsor of the deadly Boko Haram. In this report by Vanguard an unnamed presidential Aide explains that it was not the decision of President Jonathan to make.

After the dilemma the presidential delegation was allegedly thrown into when they arrived the Chadian capital and found that the former Borno State governor was not only in Chad but was also  part of the Chadian President’s delegation that came to receive the president at the airport, more facts have emerged on why Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, the former governor of Borno State was in Ndjamena, Chad during the visit of President Jonathan to the country recently.

Ali Modu Sheriff Still Under Probe - Presidency

Presidency has denied allegations that former Borno State governor, Ali Modu Sheriff, accused of sponsoring terrorism in Nigeria,  was part of the delegation of President Goodluck Jonathan on his recent visit to his Chadian counterpart, Idris Derby. 

Insisting that the Presidency was aware that he was under investigation, by the SSS for sponsoring Boko Haram. The Punch reports

 President Goodluck Jonathan has denied travelling to Chad with a former Borno State governor, Ali Modu Sheriff, for a meeting with the Chadian President, Idris Derby, on terrorism issues.

The President said he was fully aware of allegations of Boko Haram sponsorship levelled against the former governor, adding that he was only waiting for the outcome of his probe by security operatives.

The presidential spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati, who said this in a statement on Thursday, insisted that the extent of participation of Sheriff in President Jonathan’s mission to N’Djamena, the Chadian capital, was limited to his being part of Nigerians who welcomed the President to the foreign land.