Borno elders on Tuesday
asked that former President Goodluck Jonathan be taken to the International
Criminal Court of Justice at the Hague to face charges of genocide against the
people of the North-East.
The elders, under the
aegis of the Borno Elders’ Forum, said the recent confession of former Chief of
Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, at his ceremonial pull-out from
service, that the military was ill-equipped and poorly motivated under his watch
should be investigated and Jonathan brought to book.
They asked the Federal
Government to bring the former President before a judicial commission of
enquiry for ill-equipping the nation’s military against the Boko Haram
insurgents.
Borno State has been
the operational headquarters of the insurgents.
In a statement the BEF
chairman, Amb. Usman Galtimari, said Jonathan had not denied the allegation by
Badeh that the military was ill-equipped under him, saying it was sad that the
Borno State Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, had been vilified by the former
President and his henchmen for publicly saying the military lacked equipment.
The BEF statement read,
“The Borno Elders Forum found Badeh’s comments very revealing, an eye-opener, a
precursor to judgment day and extremely disturbing.
“As Chief of Defence
Staff under His Excellency, former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR,
Alex Badeh was not just the most senior serving military man and head of all
serving military men in Nigeria, he was also in the best position to know the
state of affairs regarding the provision of military supplies and motivation of
troops.
“To our very rude
shock, it turned out on Thursday, coming from an authoritative mouth, that
indeed the governor was absolutely right after all. He has been vindicated by
no less a person than the then Chief of Defence Staff, who was the symbol of
the Nigerian Armed Forces.”
The elders said in the
light of the revelation by Badeh, the Federal Government and the United Nations
should take a drastic action against the Goodluck Jonathan administration.
- Punch
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