Intelligence insights obtained 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 dreaded Boko Haram sect in Nigeria.
The communications painted a picture of what appears to be a powerful
regional support 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.
Strong evidence indicates that the Nigerian government received official
actionable intelligence about Mr. Sheriff’s links to Boko Haram as far
back as 2011 but has, curiously, ignored all warnings and nudges to act
to stop the Boko Haram...
According to the report by Premium Times, Sheriff has long been
suspected of masterminding the Boko Haram sect, but the documents
sighted by this newspaper offers deeper understanding into how Mr.
Sheriff allegedly finances the deadly sect and his
probable motivations.
When Sheriff visits Abeche
Nourished by deep and impeccable sources from members of the Chadian
Army, Nigerian intelligence experts had arrived at fairly certain
conclusions that Mr. Sheriff was actively involved in the recruitment,
training and deployment of Boko Haram members.
“…members of Boko Haram sect are sometimes kept in Abeche region in Chad
and trained before being dispersed. This happens usually when Mr.
Sheriff visits Abeche,” a 2011 memo from field officers in N’djamena,the
capital of Chad, read.
When Mr. Sheriff visits Abeche for these activities, he lodges in
Chadian Presidential Guest House in Abeche, and is provided security by
the Chadian government, the intelligence communications claim.
Mr. Sheriff is a close friend of the Chadian president, Idris Deby.
In 2011, during the Chadian presidential elections, Mr. Sheriff
supported the Chadian president with 35 vehicles, for security, and is
believed to have bankrolled Mr. Deby’s re-election.
Nigerian defence and intelligence community members typically describe
Mr. Sheriff as a gun runner in their many communications, and they often
speak in conviction that his weapons find their way into Nigeria
through Niger Republic into Yobe state. Yobe is Boko Haram’s stronghold
and has suffered heavy casualties in magnitudes
only second to Borno.
Money, Politics and Power
Back in August 2011, intelligence officials were characterising Mr.
Sheriff’s motivations for sponsoring Boko Haram as similar to a certain
“3rd generation South South governor,” with the aim of covering up
financial irregularities he might have committed as governor of Borno
state, as well as propagate a stay-put in office
Strategy by suppressing the opposition.
The officials suggest that Mr. Sheriff did not create the sect but was
actively using the “monster” and could be sponsoring the sect as a way
of protecting himself from the sect members who were “calling for his
head” at the time.
“One way of reclaiming the lost loyalty of the sect therefore, was
sponsorship of their cause,” intelligence officials were telling their
principals.
New facts showing stronger links between former governor of Borno state,
Ali Modu Sheriff, and the Boko Haram sect has emerged, supporting
claims the ex-governor is a major financier of the terrorist sect.
Mr. Sheriff was not reachable for his comments. A former commissioner
under his administration as governor of Borno state who also speaks for
him, Inuwa Bwala, told PREMIUM TIMES Mr. Sheriff was outside the country
and could not respond to enquiries.
Both the Nigerian defence headquarters and the Nigerian government also declined to comment on this intelligence.
Phone calls were not answered, and text messages were not replied to.
Chadian President Connection
An Australian negotiator, Stephen Davis, recently named Mr. Sheriff,
alongside former Nigerian Army Chief, Azubuike Ihejirika, as sponsors of
the Boko Haram sect, quoting the sect’s leadership.
Nigeria’s defence intelligence was silent on the role of Mr. Ihejirika
in promoting the deadly sect whose bloody campaign have killed up to
5000 Nigerians and left many homeless, broken and internally displaced,
but names the Chadian president, Mr. Deby, as a new dimension to the
Boko Haram sponsorship dynamics.
In 2011, a strong Boko Haram army was also beneficial to the Chadian
president, as it provided a “ready army and possible refuge” for a
president that was facing growing distrust from his legitimate army,
Nigerian intelligence officials claimed.
The Chadian government support for the sect was made majorly through his
friendship with Mr. Sheriff and at the expense of his country’s
relationship with Nigeria, the report said.
Transformed sect
Violence by the Boko Haram sect, which had only religious interest in
the past, is traceable to the five days of clashes in July 2009, between
the group and members of the security forces in Borno, Yobe, Bauchi,
and Kano states that left more than 800 people dead, including at least
30 police officers.
The police summarily executed the captured Boko Haram leader, Mohammed
Yusuf, along with several dozen of his followers in front of the police
headquarters in Maiduguri. Dozens of its members were also arrested.
Boko Haram frequently said its attacks on the government, especially the
police, are in revenge for these killings and an attempt to set free
members incarcerated by the police.
Recently, the ideology behind Boko Haram attacks got more confusing with
increasing attacks on schools, media houses and almost any soft target
with wide media reach. The group has gotten bolder by the day and has
shown interest in capturing and occupying cities it calls its
Caliphates.
The sect has overrun towns and villages, including Mubi, Michika, Bazza,
Gulak, Gwoza, Bama, Gamboru and Ngala in Adamawa and Borno states.
Ngala is the home place Mr. Sheriff.