Ali Modu Sheriif has been a controversial figure in the NE particularly and in the Nigerian polity in general. Most of these are linked to various allegations of his Boko Haram connections from different sources at different times. Below is a short synopsis of various evidences used to back-up allegations of SAS's Boko Haram connections:
1. Mr. Sheriff’s alleged link with Boko Haram dates back to his days as governor of Borno between 2003 and 2011.
Multiple security sources, politicians from his home state and residents of Borno claim Mr. Sheriff was close to the group and and its leadership, and indeed appointed a member of the sect to his cabinet as commissioner.
A group known as Borno Patriots was set up to campaign for Sheriff's arrest. The campaign against Sheriff intensified after he took part in negotiations to release an arms-filled Russian cargo plane in Kano. According to reports, he courted the terror group during his campaign for the post of governor of Borno State. Sheriff allegedly courted Boko Haram for the mass appeal that they had in Borno and Yobe states, and for the militant, strong-arm tactics that the Islamists had to offer him to defend his influence.
Boko Haram in return received resources to buy weapons and were promised that a strict sharia law would be enforced in the state.
Sheriff eventually implemented sharia in Borno state after he came to power in 2003. But Boko Haram felt that it didn't go far enough.
http://www.theafricareport.com/West-Africa/nigeria-group-wants-ex-governor-arrested-over-boko-haram-links.html
Mohammed Yusuf rose to much greater prominence when he reportedly formed an alliance with Ali Modu Sheriff, the three-time Governor and Senator and wealthy businessman from a prominent Maiduguri family. The connection allegedly also generated resources for Yusuf and his followers. Sheriff and his associates have denied any alliance with Yusuf, and have accused the People’s Democratic Party, of which President Goodluck Jonathan is the head, of creating Boko Haram.
https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/research/3431260
2. Goodluck Jonathan, in April 2003, called SAS a friend of Mohammed Yusuf, founder of Boko Haram. As commander-in-chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces, President Jonathan regularly has access to a multiplicity of security reports, and many believed he spoke from a position of knowledge at the time.
See video evidence and transcript below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBfdhzYaABA
GEJ: … Bunkers in Maiduguri or Borno state. Why should the bunkers come? Who wants to send bunkers to Borno state. There are too many APCs (armoured personnel carriers). Why should there be APCs in Borno state? Who wants to send APcs to Borno state? We are talking about soldiers.
There are some people even saying JTF should go. Who wants to spend money paying allowances of soldiers for God-sake. We need money for development.
If the circumstances that brought the soldiers are no longer there, that day, they will all leave. [Audience clap clap clap]
They were not in Borno state in 2001, 2002, 2003, up to 2009. Probably that is when ehnn this man was killed, and that was the beginning of crises.
Ehn ehn, what is the name of ehn ehn governor Sheriff’s friend? [Audience clapped, laughed and echoed Yusuf].
When Yusuf was killed, that was the beginning of the crisis…
3. In 2003, Australian negotiator with Boko Haram, Dr. Stephen Davies named SAS as one of the Boko Haram sponsors in 2014.
Dr Stephen Davis in an extensive telephone interview with SaharaReporters on August 30, 2014, also accused an unnamed senior official of the Central Bank of Nigeria as well as a man based in Cairo, Egypt whom he claimed operates as Boko Haram’s bagman as major players in the funding and continued existence of the deadly Islamist sect. Dr Davis who said he did not want to mention the name of the CBN official as this may affect investigation by Nigeria’s security service stated that his allegations were informed by discussions he had with several Boko Haram field commanders over a long period of time.
Dr Stephen Davis’ revelation is coming after ex-Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and a Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Nasir El-Rufai also revealed on August 28, that Modu Sheriff, Gen. Ihejirika are Boko Haram sponsors. Speaking on El-Rufai and former military ruler, Muhammadu Buhari, being involved in funding or sponsoring Boko Haram, Dr. Davis said their names have not been mentioned to him by any Boko Haram connections. Dr Davis who explained why Mr Ihejirika, a Christain became a Boko Haram “sponsor,” Mr. Davis said: “Boko Haram commanders and some connected with them told me on several occasions Ihejirika was one of their sponsors.” He also disclosed that Mr. Sheriff always had the best military protection in Nigeria’s violence-plagued northeast, a protection he claimed the ex-governor enjoyed after he left office.
https://www.naij.com/283220-australian-negotiator-insists-modu-sheriff-ihejirika-boko-haram-sponsors.html
4. A leaked security intelligence dispatch obtained by Premium Times also suggested Mr. Sheriff has link with the Boko Haram sect.
The memo claimed Mr. Sheriff personally oversaw the training and deployment of fighters from the Abeche region in Chad.
In Abeche, Mr. Sheriff operated from the lodge of the Chadian President, Idris Deby, the memo claimed.
After joining the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] in July 2014, Mr. Sheriff became a close ally of President Jonathan, and top leaders of the ruling party thereby enjoings state protection.
After the Australian negotiator, working with the Nigerian government, Stephen Davis, also claimed that the sect’s top members told him Mr. Sheriff was a key sponsor of their activities, on December 16, the SSS exonerated Mr. Sheriff after it paraded six men – including a former special assistant to current Borno State governor, Kashim Shettima. The SSS claimed the suspects admitted fabricating the scenarios the Australian negotiator relied on to make his claims.
http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/174000-video-shows-president-jonathan-linking-ex-borno-governor-ali-modu-sheriff-boko-haram.html
5. Senators Zanna and Sheriff have traded bitter exchanges over Boko Haram connections:
On Thursday, October 18, 2012, shocking news filtered that the Joint Task Force (JTF) in Borno State had besieged the Maiduguri residence of a ‘serving Senator’ and arrested one Shuaibu Bama, an alleged top member of the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunnah Lidda’awati Wal Jihad, also known as Boko Haram sect, who had been on the wanted list of security operatives.
The JTF did not mention the name of the senator when it issued the statement, but pundits quickly noted that the only senate member that has a house on Damboa Road is Senator Ahmed Zanna Khalifa (Borno Central).
“At about 11 am on Thursday, October 18, 2012, a high profile Boko Haram commander, one Shuaibu Muhammed Bama, who has been on the list of wanted terrorists operating between Bama and Maiduguri, was arrested by the task force troops in a serving Senator’s house along Damboa Road, GRA, Maiduguri. He is in the custody of the JTF and assisting in the investigation and has since made startling revelations,” the statement, which was signed by its spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa, said.
And sensing the veracity of the allegation, Senator Zanna granted an interview to the Hausa service of the BBC on Friday, October 19, 2012, where he stated that Bama was actually his nephew, but that he was not arrested in his house.
The senator alleged that Bama was arrested at the house of “an ex-governor” along Rabi Road, GRA, Maiduguri. The allegation put a question mark on the head of his political opponent, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff. Zanna alleged that the JTF was just acting a script to discredit him, an allegation which the JTF denied.
http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/sunday/index.php/top-stories/11845-boko-haram-now-senators-sheriff-zanna-clash-on-the-truth#pmStFgcTpxBZlJpm.99
These are just tips of the iceberg. This article is to keep in focus reasons for the outrage following SAS' announcement as the new PDP Chairman before the narrative is lost due to politicking. When a lie is told consistently, it starts becoming the truth.
I reckon there are more documented pieces of evidence but these should make for a good discussion. Please add more if you have come across such.
Thank You and God Bless.
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