Senator Ameh Ebute Former Nigerian Senate President, has accused Cameroon and Chad for allegedly having links with the boko haram insurgency and encouraging its activities in Nigeria
Ameh Ebute’s claims are contained in a letter he reportedly addressed to the UN Security Council where he called on the Council to sanction Cameroon and Chad for alleged complacency in the fight against the terrorist group.
It is reported that Ebute’s UN addressed letter indicts the two countries for conspiracy to undermine Nigeria’s security. Ebute in the letter had intimidated that he had disturbing clues about Boko Haram sponsorship which he said pointed to the direction of Nigeria’s francophone neighbors of Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
According to him: “The first clue revealed in unequivocal terms that each time the insurgents strike in Nigeria, they escape into either or all of these countries for refuge, during which time, they recuperate, re-energise, re-arm and surface to attack new targets in Nigeria”. These countries, Ebute went on, showed little or no concern about the atrocities of the sect in Nigeria, in spite of consistent loud complaints by the Nigerian government.
In the letter, Ebute urged the UN Secretary General to invoke relevant instruments, particularly Article 99 of the UN Charter, to draw the attention of the UN Security Council to investigate the nuances of the consuming terrorism in Nigeria which are potent enough to cause international breach of peace and security.
Enumerating some of what he described as suspicious actions of both Cameroon and Chad, the senator said: “When Boko Haram changed its leadership in 2015, the Chadian President Idriss Deby acted suspiciously by openly confessing that the Boko Haram sect now had a new leader, as Abubakar Shekau, had been replaced by Mahamat Daoud, who is amenable to dialogue.
“How he displayed such intimate knowledge of the disposition of the new leader of Boko Haram raised suspicions about his closeness to them and the external links. He equally noted that after interactions with the leaderships of Chad, Niger and Cameroon, by the Nigerian government, an agreement was reached on how to root out Boko Haram terrorists from these countries.
“They all consented to the formation of a Multinational Joint Military Task Force (M-JMTF), which was mandated to launch collaborative counter-attacks on fleeing insurgents in the border communities of the respective countries.
“But the M-JMTF only functioned in Chad, Niger, and Cameroon for a few weeks and after that eclipsed or relaxed its operations for no apparent reason. But fleeing terrorists and their families chased from Nigeria by the Nigerian military ran to these border countries without molestation by any security force, where they regroup to launch fresh attacks on Nigeria.”
The former Nigerian Senate President exhorted the international community, particularly, the United Nations and the International Criminal Court of Justice (ICCJ) to apply its appropriate instruments to conduct a proper investigation into the operations of Boko Haram terrorists in Nigeria, the seeming links and roles France and her former colonies of Niger, Chad and Cameroon played in the burgeoning of terrorism in Nigeria.
UN has not received the Letter
Contrary to several media reports stating UN got the former Senate President’s letter, the UN on Friday, March 3 said it has not received it.
Stephane Dujarric, Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, denied knowledge of the letter. Dujarric said question of sanctions is up to the Council. “The UN has always counted on the cooperation of all countries in the Lake Chad Basin in the fight against Boko Haram,” Dujarric said. The spokesman however emphasized that the three countries have always been the entry and exit points for terrorists into and out of Nigeria.
“Since the fall of Sambisa forest, their safest haven in Borno state, residues of insurgents have relocated to these countries, from where they stray into Nigerian territories to launch random attacks on soft and obscure targets,” he said.
