Our Chairman Is Not A Boko Haram Sponsor- Borno ANPP

The Borno State Chapter of the All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP) on
Friday condemned the burning of its state chairman's house by the
youth vigilante group in Maiduguri, the state capital. The group had
accused the party chairman, Mala Othman, of being an accomplice of the
Boko Haram insurgents.

The ANPP said the accusation against its chairman and the burning of
his house were politically motivated by extraneous forces that have
infiltrated the youth vigilante.

The vigilantes, also called Civilian JTF, have been assisting the
Nigerian military to identify and apprehend members of the outlawed
insurgent group. They have also been victims of attacks by the
insurgents.

In a press statement issued after a meeting on Friday, and signed by
its state secretary, Bakura Shettima, the ANPP said it would have
ignored the incident if it was not ostensibly targeted to smear the
proven integrity of Othman.

"Our party chairman, Othman, is an accomplished politician who has the
interest of the people and the development of the state at heart.
Accusing him of such behavior is witch hunting of which the people of
Borno state are never known for," the party scribe said.

Mr. Shettima argued that the attempt to implicate the ANPP chairman in
the activities of the outlawed Boko Haram sect was a total
contradiction of the basic facts on ground.

'In order to put the records straight, we want to establish the fact
that it is on record that 99 percent of politicians killed since the
Boko Haram insurgency began in the state are members of the ANPP, the
ruling party in Borno State. The party has put Borno State on the path
of unprecedented development under the able leadership of our State
Chairman, Alhaji Mala Othman, who is a leader with unquestionable
character. With this background, it is unimaginable to say that he is
sponsoring the killing of his own people.

"We are appealing to the Youth Volunteers to be careful not to take
the law into their hands and should be aware of politicians who might
use them against their opponents in order to score cheap political
goal," he said.

Mr. Shettima, who called for full investigation of the Monday assault
on the ANPP chieftain, appealed that "the youth volunteers should
therefore confine themselves to the areas where they live and report
any suspicious people or movement to security agencies for necessary
action."

On Monday, the youth vigilante attacked the New GRA, Maiduguri, home
of Mala Othman attempting to arrest him, but ended up burning his
house after he was helped to escape by security operatives.