Cells Of Boko Haram
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Sheikh Ahmad Gumi: Alerted the nation on suspected unconstitutional moves by Gen Ihejirika.
Lt Gen Azubuike Ihejirika (rtd): On "revenge" mission? Suffering Paranoia?
Hizbullah's or Boko Haram's?
Ihejirika is deliberately and recklessly pursuing a plan to destroy the career of senior non-Igbo officers while at the same time embarking on a massive recruitment of soldiers of Igbo stock in order to eclipse all other ethnic groups in the Nigerian Army..."
So, when Reverend Stephen Davis named General Ihejirika as one of the sponsors of Boko Haram, it came like a court verdict to Sheikh Ahmad Gumi: "Ihejirika is guilty", he might have heard the judge's voice echo.
But, what will make Gen Ihejirika fuel the unholy barrels of Boko Haram's arsenals? A retired army officer who fought on the side of Nigeria during the Nigerian civil war, and who prefers anonymity, suggests: "During the civil war, Gen Ihejirika perhaps was in his early teenage years. He might have witnessed the horrors of war, most especially if he participated in the war as a child-soldier..."
Dazzle Feat reporter then interjected, "Were there child-soldiers in the Nigerian Civil War?" "Yes", the retired army officer continued. "The rebel soldiers used child-soldiers. At various points of the war we encountered child-soldiers"
"But the Nigerian armed forces did not use child-soldiers, did the?" Dazzle Feat reporter asked. "No, we didn't. We had decorum, we had organised institutions, we did not rebel, and the war was fought on the so-called "rebel territory. All these factors meant that we did not, and could not have used child-soldiers.
"Now, back to our earlier discussion. If Gen Ihejirika actually experienced the ravages and horrors of war, and then develops paranoia and vengefulness, then the most appropriate thing for his paranoia to do is to hate and destroy all those who fought [the war] on the Nigerian side, including their descendents who, of course, weren't born then.
Asked whether he believed Gen Ihejirika could embark on a "revenge" mission, the retired army officer said, "Yes, the possibility is there, and the factors making it highly probable too exist. Yet, revenge against who and on what? It was a rebellion the Nigerian nation sought to crush. In fact, the Nigerian nation conducted the civil war with all available civility. I remember, it was the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, then as Federal Commisioner of Finance as well as Vice Chairman of the then Federal Executive Council, who ignited the debate on 'fighting someone with the left hand and then giving him food with the right hand.' The discussion or debate was very common in the military. Some of us rejected it while others supported it. By the way, why didn't the rebel soldiers produce enough food that could carry them through the war?
Gen Ihejirika's mention by Reverend Davis in connection with Boko Haram may also cast a question on whether he also sponsors MASOB, the Movement for the Actualisation of the State of Biafra, a violent character sparsely armed group in the class of Boko Haram that has been trying to ignite unrest in the south-eastern states of Nigeria. In response to this issue, the retired army officer said, "A rat is trapped eating your foodstuff in your kitchen, and you are asking what ate part of your books in the bedroom. You see, there is the need for a thorough investigation on this issue..."
"But the DSS [Directorate of State Security]