Boko Haram: Ali Modu Sheriff defends himself in new interview

Former governor of Borno state, Ali Modu
Sheriff has denied all allegations that he is a
sponsor of Boko haram in a recent interview
with New telegraph.
This is coming after an Australian terrorist
negotiator, Stephen Davis accused him openly
of being a sponsor of the terrorist sect. Sheriff
says that anyone who accuses him of being
part of the sect must be insane.
He says;
The Boko Haram war as we know it today,
started in 2002 in Yobe State. The first
attack of Boko Haram was in 2002 in
Kanama, from there they ran to Borno
State. And in 2002, where was I? I wasn’t
a governor. (Continue)There was a sitting
governor in Borno State, and there was
Boko Haram. They ran away from Kanama
and moved to Gwoza hill!
But come to think of it, who is
Mohammed Yusuf ( first leader of the
group)? Yusuf had been in Maiduguri,
doing his preaching and later taken to
court by the Federal Government, and
prosecuted in Abuja, ever before I
became a governor. And who was the first
casualty of Boko Haram in Borno State? It
is me.
I was the first victim of Boko Haram in
Borno State. In their first attack, they
killed my brother, the same father and
mother with me. That was when they
fought with the military in Borno.
The first casualty was me. Then, they
killed my cousin. They killed my candidate
for governorship; they killed my party
chairman. Two of them were direct
relations of mine. Why did they do that?
Because I made a law prohibiting Boko
Haram in the domain of Borno State.The
law said anybody practising or associated
with what Boko Haram was doing, was
banned by law from so doing, and if
caught, will be prosecuted and jailed for
25 years"
On Stephen Davis;
“The man that purportedly gave the
interview said he was an Australian, who
said he came to Nigeria, and spoke to
Boko Haram. I thought that really, if he is
a professional mediator or negotiator, or
whatever he calls himself, his report
would have been given to the security
agencies of Nigeria. That is number one.
Number two, also, if at all he spoke to
Boko Haram, before making his views
public, he should have known that I have
a right of reply. He should have asked for
my reaction or views on his findings,
because I am a Nigerian, I am in Nigeria,
I didn’t go anywhere. Number three, I
was the governor of Borno State for eight
years”.