Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State has accused his predecessor, Ali Modu Sheriff, of inaction, which, according to him, led to the escalation of Boko Haram insurgency.
Shettima made this accusation, on Monday, at the annual lecture in honour of late Head of State, Murtala Mohammed in Abuja.
The Borno state governor was responding to a “political statement” by his predecessor Sheriff in which he said Boko Haram did not hold any territory in Borno when he handed over power.
But according to Shettima, Boko Haram founder, Mohammed Yusuf, took advantage of Sheriff’s failure to provide leadership to declare a jihad.
Delivering a paper “Managing the Boko Haram crisis in Borno State, experiences and lessons for a multi-party, multi ethnic and multi religious Nigeria” at the lecture, Shettima says: “The fact is that Sheriff allowed his ego to overcome his action and failed to settle the differences between armed forces and members of Yusuffiya movement at the time.”
The governor recalled that he was aware the late Boko Haram leader, Yusuf, was a constant critic of the Sheriff administration.
He said that in July 2009, some armed security agencies clashed with members of the sect over the use of helmets and shot 17 of them.
Shettima said: “A governor should have at least visited victims of the shooting to lay foundation for peace and he should have set up a commission of inquiry just like what Governor El Rufai did in Kaduna recently.
“He chose to mismanage the incident. He did not send anyone or settle the medical bill of anyone and he played into their hands. That gave Yusuf an opening to declare jihad.”
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