Death threats: Northerners shun Boko Haram panel

Former Boko haram Leader, Yusuf Mohammed

Northerners, who hitherto had cooperated with the Federal Government panel on the insecurity in the North-East, are now avoiding the members of the panel, THE PUNCH has learnt.

Our correspondents gathered that these Northerners were afraid that citizens who cooperated with the panel might be targeted by the violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram.

A source in the Presidency, who pleaded anonymity because he wasn’t authorised to speak on the matter, said the development was hindering the progress of the panel, as many citizens had stopped providing it with the much needed information.

He also said that the situation was compounded by last Friday’s assassination of Babakura Fugu, the father-in-law of the late leader of Boko Haram, Mohammed Yusuf.

Fugu was killed barely 24 hours after meeting with former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who had visited Maiduguri to broke peace.

In the aftermath of Fugu’s killing, notable human rights activist, Shehu Sani, received death threats for facilitating the meeting between the late Fugu and Obasanjo.

The eight-member committee, headed by Ambassador Usman Galtimari, had submitted an interim report a few weeks back and had requested an additional two weeks to submit its final report.

The two weeks extension lapsed last Tuesday without the final report. The source told one of our correspondents in Abuja that “people have simply kept away from members of the committee and refused to volunteer information.”

Although a British Broadcasting Corporation report claims that a faction of the sect had claimed responsibility, another denied the killing and commiserated with the family. There were speculations on Sunday that the claims and counter-claims indicated a factional conflict within the sect.

Reports on Monday said that Fugu was shot dead by one Ustaz Mote, a close associate of Mamman Nur, the man declared wanted by the State Security Service for being the mastermind of the bombing of UN building on August 26 in Abuja. The Federal Government placed a N25m bounty on Nur on Sunday.

The source said, “The killing of Babakura Fugu shortly after meeting Obasanjo has worsened the situation. The people are afraid of approaching the Federal Government panel in order not to be suspected of sabotaging Boko Haram. They don’t want to risk their lives.

Source:  Punch Newspaper