Ndigbo Lagos, an umbrella body for all the people of Igbo extraction leaving in Lagos, has condemned in strong terms the alleged sponsorship of the Boko Haram insurgents by General Azubuike Ihejirika (rtd) by an Australian, Stephen Davies.
In a statement issued on Thursday by Mr. Chuma Igwe, Director of Communications and Strategy, Ndigbo Lagos, the group said that “the apparently procured, choreographed and orchestrated interview on Arise Television on Thursday August 28 in which a certain Stephen Davies an Australian of the ilk of many white mercenaries prowling the African continent, accused General Ihejirika of being a sponsor of Boko Haram is most condemnable.
According the statement, Mr Davies did not adduce or suggest any single evidence to support his accusation of Ihejirika, adding that curiously when in the same breadth he said he had knowledge of the sponsors of the Abuja Nyanya bombing, he refused to name names.
“Most tragic in this choreographed defamation of an illustrious General, is the interviewer’s unprofessionalism in failing to demand evidence from Ihejirika’s accuser, Mr Stephen Davies.
“General Ihejirika has since denied this allegation. Given the lack of evidence, the nature of delivery of the allegation and the character of the accused General, Ndigbo Lagos believes Ihejirika’s traducers are playing dirty politics.
“General Ihejirika will be remembered for being one of the most outstanding Commanders Nigeria has had. He is not only an accomplished tactician but also a Strategic leader of a fighting force. In his time he not only decimated the fighting capability of Boko Haram but also built enduring military institutions to permanently checkmate insurgency in Nigeria.
“According to the Vanguard on-line of 27th August 2014, General Ihejirika “not only established the 7th Division of the Nigerian Army with headquarters in Maiduguri, he also established new Army Brigades, Counter Terrorism Schools in Kachia and Jaji …”.
“When Ihejirika retired from the Army, the same self- selected Northern bigots wanted him tried by The World Court for being overzealous in crushing Boko Haram. Eight months down the road, the same General Ihejirika is now accused of being a sponsor.
“The orchestration of this insidious allegation by Nasir El Rufai a character fast drifting gracelessly in to the ethnic bigoted pit of hell, reveals the tragic indulgence in denial, escapism by the same self-centred Northern politicians who would rather create hell to rule over than serve in heaven. As Ndigbo Lagos advised the likes of Nasir El Rufai earlier, those who ride the tiger will inevitably find themselves in the belly of the tiger.
“We therefore call on the Federal Government to institute a high powered inquiry to address this obnoxious allegation and lay it to rest”, the statement said.
