Why Boko Haram sponsors must be exposed, by Sultan

Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, yesterday, said that sponsors of Islamic sect, Boko Haram, must be exposed if the fight against terrorism must succeed, even as he lamented the pervasive corruption in the country.  
Sultan spoke when the Papal Nuncio to Nigeria, Archbishop Augustine Kasojja, accompanied by Anthony Cardinal Okojie, Archbishop of Lagos; Archbishops of Ibadan, Kaduna, Jos and Owerri, as well as 20 other bishops on a courtesy visit to his palace in Sokoto, yesterday.
The bishops are in the state for the installation of Rt. Reverend Monsignor Matthew Hassan Kukah as the new Catholic Bishop of Sokoto today.
His position is coming against the backdrop of the revelations by Wikileaks that he reportedly facilitated the release of some of the Boko Haram members arrested over alleged terrorist activities in the past to enable them escape justice.
The US diplomatic cable with reference 08ABUJA538, released by Wikileaks was reportedly sent by the former American Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Robin Rene Sanders, on March 20, 2008.
Release of Boko Haram members
The cable revealed that the State Security Service, SSS and some Northern traditional leaders, including the Sultan reached an understanding to release some Boko Haram suspects secretly to ensure they were not tried in law courts for their alleged offences of terrorism in the country.
The aim for the  release of the suspects to a carefully selected group of traditional rulers and Imams shortly after their arrest was to ‘’de-radicalise and reform’’ them under the so-called ‘’Perception Management’’ which would have reformed the terrorism suspects and promoted the notion that religious extremists in the North had no foreign affiliations.

Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III

However, the Sultan said, “If we talk about Boko Haram, it is a serious problem in this country. Let us try and find out what Boko Haram is and who are its leaders.
‘’No one has told me up till now who the leaders of Boko Haram are. They can not be faceless but someone somewhere is sponsoring these people to do these evil things that are so bad; so we have to find out who are those behind these people.
“We have so much to do because we are the voice of the voiceless. We are the voices of the oppressed.
“If we do not tell the leaders the truth, God will not be happy with us.
‘’If we cannot tell them where and when they go wrong, even where there is so much corruption and inefficiency in the system, God will not be happy with us.
‘’We have to rise up to the occasion; all of these leaders are either Christians or Muslims and since they come to our Churches or Mosques, we must tell them the truth.’’