10th September, 2023
PRESS RELEASE:
ATTACK ON VP SHETTIMA: MURIC SLAMS ATIKU’S AIDE
Mr. Phrank Shuaibu, an aide to former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, on Friday, 8th September, 2023 accused Vice President Kashim Shettima of aiding and abetting Boko Haram insurgents during his tenure as governor of Borno State. He specifically accused Shettima of aiding the abduction of the Chibok girls.
But an Islamic human rights organization, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has slammed Atiku’s aide for making fraudulent charges against Vice President Kashim Shettima. MURIC described the aides allegations as false, malicious, odious and insidious.
MURIC’s response was contained in a statement circulated among newsmen on Sunday 10th September, 2023 by the group’s Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola.
The full statement reads:
“Mr. Phrank Shuaibu, an aide to former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, on Friday, 8th September, 2023 accused Vice President Kashim Shettima of aiding and abetting Boko Haram insurgents during his tenure as governor of Borno State. He specifically accused the VP of aiding the abduction of the Chibok girls (https://gazettengr.com/you-aided-chibok-girls-abduction-opened-floodgates-of-terror-in-borno-atikus-aide-fires-back-at-shettima/).
“We are confounded both by the weight and intensity of these allegations, particularly against a sitting vice president. They are false, malicious, odious and insidious. They are simply lies from the pit of Jahannam.
“Somebody must have locked the medulla oblongata of Mr. Phrank Shaibu and thrown the key away, otherwise he would not turn the pages of history upside down the way he has just done. How could any rational being accuse VP Shettima of aiding Boko Haram?
“It is on record that former President Goodluck Jonathan threatened to withdraw federal troops from Borno State when Shettima as the state governor complained of a glaring lackadaisical approach from the federal government to the Boko Haram saga. He asked if Shettima would be able to stay in the government house if he withdrew federal troops.
“Jonathan’s exact words were, ‘I will pull them out for one month whether he (Shettima) will stay in that his Government House. But, if he thinks what he said is correct then I will pull out the armed forces for one month.’
“VP Shettima had complained to the visiting president that Boko Haram was gaining the upper hand in the region because Nigerian soldiers are not well armed. But an angry Jonathan gave him the cold response above (https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/155704-jonathan-slams-borno-governor-over-comment-on-boko-haram.html?tztc=1). It was more than a response. It was a threat. It was like, ‘Behave, or I will unleash them on you.’
“We affirm that Shettima’s complaint was meant to attract better equipment for Nigerian soldiers so that they would be able to confront Boko Haram fighters more effectively. We are of the humble opinion that a governor who is aiding the insurgents would not make such a request, instead, he would have joined the indifferent camp of looters of funds meant for the purchase of weapons for Nigerian soldiers. Shaibu’s allegation against VP Shettima is therefore frivolous, mischievous and luciferous.
“Of course events later proved VP Shettima right as reports of the $2.1 million arms fund investigation later revealed that indeed Nigerian soldiers were deprived of weapons and money meant to buy them was shared among Jonathan’s partymen.
MURIC also knocked Atiku’s aide for accusing Shettima of aiding the abduction of the Chibok girls.
“We are equally miffed by Phrank Shuaibu’s allegation that VP Shettima aided the kidnapping of the Chibok girls. It is on record that former President Jonathan refused to act for nineteen (19) days after the abduction of the poor girls (https://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/05/president-goodluck-jonathans-fallouts-chibok/). It is therefore the zenith of mischief for Atiku’s aide to accuse Shettima of involvement in the ugly incident.
“Official duplicity cannot be totally ignored. For example, in the case of Dapchi where 110 girls were abducted, the governor of Yobe at the time alleged that soldiers were withdrawn a week before the attack (https://www.thecable.ng/yobe-gov-boko-haram-attacked-dapchi-week-troops-withdrawn).
“MURIC admonishes Phrank Shuaibu to look elsewhere for those responsible for lapses in the attack on the Chibok girls. We have no doubt that he does not have to look far, behind his shoulders, perhaps.”
#ChibokConspiracyNotShettima
Professor Ishaq Akintola,
Executive Director,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC).
