SAN FRANCISCO, September 10, (THEWILL) – A Borno-based group, the Borno Integrity Group, has raised the alarm over what it alleged as the plans by some “mischief makers” working for a powerful politician to embark on a smear campaign against the State governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima.
Secretary of the group, Shettima Bukar Gomboru, alleged on Wednesday that mischief makers have employed the services of the publisher of a Kaduna-based magazine to actualise their plans against the people of Borno State.
He alleged that the magazine has published a fictitious edition trying to mislead the people of Borno State on fabricated circumstances that led to the murder of then All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) Governorship candidate, Fannami Gubio, prior to the 2011 elections.
“The Magazine fails to take into account the fact that Gubio was killed while Ali Modu Sheriff was Governor and Chief Security Officer of Borno State, under whose tenure, serial killings went on freely in the city Maiduguri, where Gubio and many others were conveniently killed at various times.
“All of us in Borno know that if at all there was contention over the emergence of Gubio as candidate, the controversy was largely within a particular wealthy family where the father and head of that family preferred his own son to succeed Sheriff as against the choice of Gubio,” Gomboru alleged.
According to the Gomboru, “Sheriff himself has only last week blamed Boko Haram for Gubio’s murder, those raising questions over Sheriff’s claim should direct their suspicion to the right place. The fact is that all of their attempts to change history cannot hold water.
“The whole plot against Shettima is an exercise in futility which was designed for by a drowning group to have innocent people join them as they match towards the dustbin. The people of Borno State cannot be deceived by anyone.”
The group however called on Governor Shettima not to be distracted by all the latest plots but to focus on his laudable efforts of active collaboration with security agencies and youth volunteers to end the five-year-old Boko Haram insurgency while at the same time supporting victims and rebuilding affected communities.
