Australian negotiator, Stephen Davis has dropped another bombshell even as he continues to offer a glimpse into how Boko Haram is funded and who the sponsors are.
Davis in a telephone discussion with Sahara Reporters insisted on claims he made on ARISE TV last week, stating that former COAS, Lt. Gen Azuibike Ihejirika and former Borno Governor, Ali Modu Sheriff are two prime financiers of Boko Haram.
Speaking on the inability of successive Nigerian government to curtail extremist threats in the country, Davis revealed that not only are the terrorists sponsored by politicians, but that there is also a lack of political will to prosecute the sponsors once named.
Illustrating, he told SaharaReporters that he and former President Olusegun Obasanjo found out that Abiye Sekibo, who was then Mr. Obasanjo’s Transport Minister, had contracted the assassins who killed a prominent politician, Harry Marshall. He said he tried to persuade Mr. Obasanjo to prosecute Mr. Sekibo, but the then president declined, stating that such a trial could bring down his government.
The Australian revealed that earlier this year Boko Haram was a loose coalition of three Islamist militant groups that worked with one another, claiming that, since four months ago, the sects had merged into one single entity, become more cohesive, strategically effective and powerful. “They are now linking with other terrorist group in the region and will soon be very difficult to dismantle. If these political sponsors think they can turn these groups off after the 2015 elections they are going to be surprised to find it is out of their control.”
On why he had chosen to speak out publicly at this time, Dr. Davis stated that, from experience, any terrorist group that has lasted more than eight years after its formation would likely exist for another 20 or more years before it can be dismantled. It thus becomes embedded for a generation and the likelihood of dismantling it was very low. “If we don’t do our utmost now to dismantle Boko Haram then we may not be able to do so for another generation. That is a very gloomy scenario for Nigeria.”
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