'Ex-governor gave Boko Haram leader opening to declare jihad' - Gov. Shettima

Borno state governor, Kashim Shettima has blamed the Boko Haram crisis in Nigeria on poor handling of the situation by his predecessor, Ali Modu-Sheriff.

Delivering a keynote address at the 2017 Murtala Muhammed Memorial Lecture in Abuja on Monday, February 13, Shettima said Sheriff's "inactions" led to the declaration of jihad by late Boko Haram leader, Mohammed Yusuf.

Shettima stated that Yusuf was a critic of Sheriff's government adding that the ex-governor failed to handle the clash between the sect and Operation Crush when 17 members of the sect (motorcycle riders) were shot for failure to use crash helmets in 2009.

"A governor in his right senses should have at least visited victims of the shooting to lay foundation for peace and he should have set up a commission of inquiry just like what Governor El-Rufai did in Kaduna recently,” Shettima said.

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“He [Sheriff] chose to mismanage the incident. He did not send anyone or settle the medical bill of anyone and he played into their hands. That gave Yusuf an opening to declare jihad.”

Shettima who alleged that former president Goodluck Jonathan failed to understand the Boko Haram crisis added that Sheriff allowed his ego to stand in the way of ending the crisis.

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

“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.

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“Ali Modu Sheriff mismanaged the crisis by ignoring the situation, and he played into the hands of the insurgents.‎ It is possible that some of the insurgents wanted a jihad to declare their type of Islamic State but Sheriff inaction and negligent disposition gave Mohammed Yusuf an opening to mobilise his followers and declare a Jihad.

"So Yusuf told his followers that the silence of the Borno state government was an indication that the attack was perpetrated by his government and they (sect) threatened retaliation," the governor added.

According to estimates by community leaders in Borno state, Boko Haram terrorists have killed over 100,000 persons; with over two million people displaced and over 500,000 persons in different camps in Nigeria.