APC warns Jonathan against profiting from B’Haram violence

 Interim National Publicity Secretary, All Progressives Congress, Lai Mohammed

The All Progressives Congress on Monday cautioned the President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration against seeking to profit by the Boko Haram insurgency.

The party said the words of caution became necessary in the light of an alleged failed attempt by a presidential aide, Mr. Reno Omokri, to link the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria,  Lamido Sanusi, to heightened attacks by the violent Islamic sect.

This was contained in a statement signed by the party’s Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

According to the statement, the discovery of the failed attempt has shown that the presidency may be seeking to profit, politically and otherwise, by the insurgency that has sent thousands to their graves.

The statement read in part, “Omokri’s attempt to push an article he authored into the public domain, using a fake name, is the clearest indication yet that the presidency has a case to answer and may have been feeding Nigerians with doctored information.”

The party noted that the attempt to blame the recent spate of attacks by Boko Haram on Sanusi raised some pertinent questions, including whether the presidency was “trying to gain political mileage from the death of innocents Nigerians, including school children, whom it could not protect.”

The APC asked, “Could this be why the government has largely treated the insurgency with levity, especially in its early days? Does the presidency know more than it is telling Nigerians on Boko Haram?

 “Is there a government Boko Haram that acts on instructions from some quarters? Is anyone in government profiting financially from the battle against Boko Haram that they may be sabotaging efforts to end the insurgency?”

The APC demanded the immediate arrest of Omokri by the State Security Service for him to provide answers to the questions raised.

Mohammed enjoined the security services to also find out from the presidential aide why he was trying to act by subterfuge to misinform Nigerians and how long has he been engaged in the act.

The party said Omokri’s dangerous game should be seen within the context of curious coincidence between several past Boko Haram attacks and certain low moments and/or at critical junctures in the administration of the President giving the impression of an unseen hand playing the puppeteer.

It said, “For instance, the January 20, 2012 attacks in Kano that left about 162 dead occurred at the height of the fuel subsidy protests that shut down the country; the Christmas Day attack in Suleja, Niger State, that killed about 37 people and injured 57 seems to be a distraction from the series of deadly attacks that had rocked the country earlier.”