• DSS invites Mailafiya for questioning
Governor Simon Lalong, Chairman, Northern Governors’ Forum.
By M. Peter – Jos
Following the allegation that a serving Governor in one of the States in the North is a Commander of Boko Haram, the umbrella body for Governors in the region, the Northern Governors’ Forum has asked for a thorough investigation as such allegation is too weighty to be ignored.
The Forum which expressed concern over such allegation noted that as a body, her members have been working hard to see the end of banditry and terrorism and for one of them to be alleged to be a leading member of Boko Haram calls for thorough probe.
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The Chairman of the Forum and Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong in a statement by his Director of Press and Public Affairs, Makut Macham urged Dr. Obadiah Mailafiya who made the allegation and indeed all citizens with useful information on the activities of criminals and terrorist groups to assist security agencies and Governments at all levels with such intelligence for proper action.
He said, “The Northern Governors Forum has called on security agencies to investigate the allegation by a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Dr. Obadiah Mailafiya in which he alleged that “…one of the Northern Governors is the Commander of Boko Haram in Nigeria. The Forum is concerned about the weighty allegation made by Dr. Mailafiya which must be thoroughly investigated.
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“The Forum which has been working with the Federal Government, security agencies, community, civil society, traditional and religious leaders as well as development partners to defeat terrorism, banditry and other forms of crimes in the region, finds the allegation by Dr. Mailafiya very weighty which deserves further investigation. We as Northern Governors have met severally to discuss insecurity in the Northern Region and the nation at large where we did not only condemn the activities of terrorist groups such as Boko Haram, bandits, armed robbers, kidnappers and other criminals, but also engaged the President and all heads of security agencies in finding solutions to the problem.
“To now say that one of our members is leading Boko Haram in Nigeria is a serious allegation that cannot be swept under the carpet. We demand immediate and thorough investigation. I urged Dr. Mailafiya and indeed all citizens with useful information on the activities of criminals and terrorist groups to assist security agencies and Governments at all levels with such intelligence for proper action.”
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The Governor also hopes that such allegations are not smear campaigns or attempts to discourage the Northern Governors who are putting in their best to bring and end to insecurity in the region and reiterated that “the Forum does not, and will not support the activities of any criminal group, because we as Governors and our families are also not spared as was recently witnessed when the convoy of Governor Babagana Zullum of Borno State was attacked.”
Meanwhile, the Director of State Service, DSS in Jos had invited Dr. Mailafiya for questioning.
