Sheriff played into the hands of Boko Haram, says Shettima

Kashim Shettima, governor of Borno state, has alleged that Ali Modu Sheriff, his predecessor, played into the hands of Boko Haram insurgents.

Delivering a keynote address at the 2017 Murtala Muhammed memorial lecture in Abuja on Monday, Shettima blamed Sheriff for mismanaging the situation that led to the rise of Boko Haram.

“I have restrained myself from blaming the previous government for the emergence of Boko Haram, but the fact of the matter is that Ali Modu Sheriff, the former governor,  allowed his ego to stand in the way of a dispute between the army and followers of Mohammed Yusuf,” he said.

“Ali Modu Sheriff mismanaged the crisis by ignoring the situation, and he played into the hands of the insurgents.‎”

Shettima also alleged that former President Goodluck Jonathan did not understand the Boko Haram crisis until March 2013.

The Boko Haram crisis became intense in 2011 when Jonathan‎ began his term as president.

He said‎ conspiracy theories such as – Boko Haram being sponsored by the northerners to destabilise the government – on the insurgency encumbered Jonathan from taking proactive measures to end the crisis.

‎”I think before President Jonathan’s fact-finding mission, he didn’t understand the Boko Haram crisis until March 2013‎,” he said.

‎The governor said Boko Haram had inflicted damages of about $9bn on the north-east, and that it would take concerted effort to rebuild the region.