?
Borno State governor Alhaji Kashim Shettima stated yesterday that security forces have arrested a top commander of Boko Haram accused of orchestrating attacks on policemen and clerics.?
“I believe the worst is over,” Shettima told the Associated Press in an interview, adding that five others were also arrested and being detained.
?
?
The governor said that those who continue the sectarian campaign of assassinations and bombings will be hunted down by the military and police people whose numbers were increasing in his state.
Boko Haram maintains a loose command-and-control structure, allowing different groups to operate autonomously from each other, Shettima said. “They operate in some sort of cells, some sort of units that are interlinked, but generally they take directives from one commander,” he said.
?
?
He said progress is being made following the arrest, adding that “political problem needs political solution”.
Meanwhile, the controversy surrounding the release of self-acclaimed co-founder of Boko Haram, Mr. Aliyu Tishau, took a different turn yesterday with the pronouncement by the Joint Security Information Managers Committee that he was released on the strength of an order from an undisclosed court.
?
?
Air Commodore Yusuf Annas, director, public relations and information, Nigerian Air Force, on behalf of the information managers, stated ?this yesterday at the Defence Headquarters, Abuja.
The committee which was recently inaugurated comprises the Nigerian Army, Navy, Air Force, Department of State Security Service (SSS) and the Nigeria Police Force.
According to him, “It is necessary to put on record that the so-called co-founder of Boko Haram, Mr. Aliu Tishau, was arrested and detained by security agencies for questioning on his relationship with the terrorist group and was later released on the strength of a court order.
“Mr. Tishau subsequently found his way to the Africa Independent Television (AIT) where he made several spurious and untenable claims. His much publicised diatribe is understandable and should be situated on psychology of someone who went through a period of detention and needed a platform to vent his anger.”
?
?
The committee, he said, “finds it amazing that a media report of such sensitive national security issue will be based on the ubiquitous ‘reliable source’. Similarly, we want you to please note that the story credited to one of the national dailies on the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) was not made by any official of the DIA nor anybody in Defence Headquarters.?
?“This press conference is, therefore, essentially to assure Nigerians that there is no iota of disunity or rancour within or between security agencies in the fight against terrorism despite the orchestrated speculation by a section of the media.”
?
?
The director of defence information, Col. Yerima Mohammed, who also spoke at the news conference, further clarified that Tishau was released on the order of a court.
While fielding questions from journalists, Mohammed insisted that the police arrested Tishau and released him to the “interrogation centre” for questioning. He, however, declined to name the security outfit which was in charge of the interrogation centre.
The police had, at a press conference last week, claimed that the suspect was released to an undisclosed sister security agency which subsequently set him free without returning him to them to conclude their investigation and charge him to court.
In attendance at the press conference were the directors of information for the Army, Col. Yerima Mohammed; Navy, Commodore Kabir Aliyu; ?Air Force, Air Commodore Yusuf Anas; the force public relations officer, Mr. Olusola Amore, and the SSS were however not represented at the meeting.
?
?
A senior police officer who spoke to LEADERSHIP on condition of anonymity said the sister agency ought to have notified the police on the court order, which he claimed was from a high court but would not state where, so the force could appeal against it.
“Nigerians and the media have to understand that people’s jobs are on the line and the more information that is given out could further jeopardize these officers’ means of livelihood,” he said. “We must also bear in mind that the officers involved were acting on instruction from superior officers; hence, it would be out of place to hold them responsible for carrying out orders.”
?
?
Meanwhile, two senior lawyers Professor Itse Sagay and Abubakar Mahmoud have said that the proprietary of Tishau’s release would be determined if the security operatives show Nigerians the court order by which he was released.
Sagay said: “The court can only make such order depending on the evidence or quality of charge upon which the suspect was arraigned before it, but if the order was improperly made or the order contravenes the peace and security of the nation, the security operatives have the option of appealing the order as well as asking for stay of its execution.
?
?
“Such action is improper due to the gravity of devastation incurred on the society by this release, if carried out by the security operatives without a concurrent benefit or hindsight of information leading to the arrest of the situation at hand.
“It shows the little care the security operatives have for the lives of Nigerians. There should have been a procedural approval from appropriate authority before releasing the suspect.”
Sagay further argued: “If the security operatives are saying it is a court of competent jurisdiction that gave an order for his release, why did they fail to appeal the order and even get an injunction for stay of execution of that court order if there was such an order by court?”
?
?
For his part, Mahmoud said: “If a court of competent jurisdiction grants an order, it must be obeyed. As it is now, no one can tell if a court actually granted the order.
“The onus lies on the security operatives to display before the public such order to confirm their statement. But, then, it depends on the evidence filed before the court before making the order.”
In a related development, the National Executive Committee of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) had a closed-door meeting yesterday in Kaduna to persuade the group on the proposed amnesty.
?
?
LEADERSHIP gathered that some prominent members of the ACF are uncomfortable with the inability of the Boko Haram members to go on dialogue and the unending crises in Jos, Plateau State. The meeting was convened in order to put a stop to it.
At the ACF secretariat, our correspondent saw Alhaji Aliko Mohammed and Col. Musa Shehu leading the members of the NEC in discussions ahead of their meeting with the national body today to take a stand on the issues
A source at the meeting told LEADERSHIP that, “The meeting taking place today (yesterday) concerned the proposed amnesty by the Boko Haram members and the Jos crises. Whatever decision the NEC takes today (yesterday) will be made known to you in their tomorrow’s (today’s) meeting with all the national executive.”