Sponsorship of boko haram: Northern elders meet on Davis’ claims

The Northern Elders Forum (NEF), under the chairmanship of Dr Yusuf Maitama Sule, will meet on Monday to discuss the allegations by an international arbitrator, Dr Stephen Davis, on the sponsors of the festering Boko Haram crisis and why there is no end in sight to the insurgency, an insider in the group has revealed to Sunday Trust.

Dr. Davis, who has had a seven-year relationship with elements in Boko Haram and who had served as a secret negotiator with the group on behalf of the Federal Government, told the media last week that a former Governor of Borno State, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff and a former Chief of Army Staff, General Azubuike Ihejirika (retired), have questions to answer on the sponsorship of the sect.



Though the Federal Government has not reacted to this allegation, the Department of State Security (DSS) exonerated General Ihejirika of the accusation, but claimed it would quiz former Governor Sheriff.

Sunday Trust learnt that the Elders Forum would meet in Bauchi on Monday to make known its position of the allegation and  also seek clarification on the ongoing military campaign against insurgents in the North-East.
“There are clear indications that the Forum has concluded plans to address the nation on the allegations made by Dr. Davies on the people behind Boko Haram. The Forum may likely ask the federal government to launch official inquiry into the claim on the one hand and investigate those he accused of being the sponsors of insurgents on the other hand.”

The Forum, according to the source, would want government to prosecute anyone found guilty in the end.

Also, the spokesman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Malam Muhammad Ibrahim, said the group had issued a statement last week asking the government to determine how true Davies allegations were.

The ACF statement reads: “ACF calls upon the federal government to urgently institute an investigation into the weighty allegations made by Dr. Stephen Davis against the persons named in his interview with the international media in funding and sustaining the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East region. Persons found to have been involved in such crime against the state should be prosecuted to serve as deterrent to others.”