Former governor of Borno State, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, has said that only the neighbouring Republic of Chad could help solve the Boko Haram insurgency ravaging the north-eastern part of Nigeria.

Sheriff, while speaking in a BBC Hausa Service magazine programme (Gane Mini Hanya) yesterday, monitored by LEADERSHIP Sunday in Abuja, denied reports that Boko Haram started during his tenure as governor of Borno State between 2003 and 2011.

He revealed that the radical religious sect actually started in Yobe State in 1992, and that he has been trying to find a lasting solution to it, including talking to the Chadian Government.

Sheriff alleged that the Borno State Government was responsible for the orchestrated plot to frame him up with the Boko Haram sponsorship allegation in order to defame his character.

He added that since he is one of the few politicians that have benefitted greatly from the kindness of Borno State, he is doing whatever he can to help solve the insurgency.

Sheriff said: “Nothing preoccupies my mind in Nigeria presently like the return of peace in Borno. When Borno State was peaceful, there was no place I cherished to stay in the world like Maiduguri. I, my friends, my confidants, my parents and all the schools I attended are in Maiduguri.

“Therefore, I am more concerned than anybody in this country, because what Borno State did for me has not been done to any other indigene. You know, in Borno State, a governor has never been re-elected apart from me; in Borno State, no senator has ever been elected thrice apart from me. So, Borno people have done everything for me, and there is no one in this world that I know other than Chad, which I think could help Borno.”

Continuing, Sheriff said: “They defamed my character, and when they started it, I once told journalists that it was plotted in Maiduguri. We know the plotters, their motives, and that by the grace of God, the truth will prevail; and now, the arrested impostors have said it all to the world.”

However, the Borno State Government, through Governor Kashim Shettima’s spokesman, Isa Gusau, has denied any government-sponsored plot to tarnish the image of the former governor, saying the government in Maiduguri was only concerned with the weighty allegations against Sheriff as an indigene of the state. Gusau added that the incumbent state governor has nothing to gain from Sheriff’s predicament.

He told the BBC Hausa Service yesterday: “Governor Kashim Shettima has nothing to gain from the allegation against Ali Sheriff. In fact, to him, it is even shameful that a Borno State indigene, whom the governor has interacted or is connected with, is linked to what is happening. So, Governor Shettima’s connection with this saga is unnecessary.”

•Adapted from LEADERSHIP Sunday. Photo shows Modu Sheriff.

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