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Atiku’s Aide Challenges Shettima Over 2012 Arrest of Boko Haram Commander at Borno Lodge
Paul Ibe, media adviser to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has called on Vice President Kashim Shettima to explain the circumstances surrounding the January 2012 arrest of convicted Boko Haram commander Kabiru Sokoto at the Borno State Governor’s Lodge in Abuja.
Ibe, in a post on X on Thursday, questioned how Sokoto, who was wanted over the deadly bombing of St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla, Niger State, gained access to the government facility while Shettima was governor of Borno State.
The incident occurred on January 14, 2012, following the December 25, 2011, bombing of the Catholic church, which killed more than 40 people and formed part of a wave of attacks attributed to the Boko Haram insurgency.
Sokoto was subsequently convicted in connection with the bombing and sentenced to life imprisonment.
His arrest at the Borno State Governor’s Lodge in the Asokoro district of Abuja generated controversy at the time, particularly over how a wanted terrorist had found his way into an official government facility.
The Borno State Government, under Shettima, reportedly denied any connection with the suspect, maintaining that his presence at the lodge was a security breach.
However, Ibe argued that the denial did not sufficiently address the questions arising from the incident.
“How did a notorious Boko Haram terrorist gain access to the official residence of a sitting governor?” he queried.
He added that “an official denial does not eliminate the legitimate questions arising from such an extraordinary incident.”
The former Vice President’s aide demanded clarification on who authorised or facilitated Sokoto’s access to the lodge, the findings of any subsequent investigation, whether anyone was sanctioned and why a comprehensive account of the incident had not been made public.
Ibe maintained that the questions were matters of public accountability rather than religion or ethnicity.
“This is not about religion or ethnicity. These are questions of public accountability,” he said.
He also linked the controversy to the broader security challenges Borno State faced during Shettima’s tenure, including the abduction of 276 schoolgirls from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, on April 14, 2014.
The Chibok abduction, carried out by Boko Haram, drew international condemnation and intensified scrutiny of Nigeria’s response to the insurgency.
Although the two incidents occurred more than two years apart and involved different circumstances, Ibe argued that Nigerians deserved a fuller account of the security decisions taken during the period.
According to him, Shettima, who served as Borno governor from 2011 to 2019 before becoming vice president in 2023, should account for his administration’s handling of security challenges during the insurgency.
“Nigerians deserve the full records of the Kabiru Sokoto investigation, an explanation of the security failures at the Borno Governor’s Lodge, and a transparent accounting of the decisions that shaped the fight against Boko Haram,” Ibe said.
He further argued that public officials should remain accountable for their decisions and actions while in office.
“Public office does not confer immunity from difficult questions. The victims of Boko Haram deserve justice. Nigerians deserve answers. Those who governed at the height of the insurgency, including you, must be prepared to account for how your actions and inactions may have enabled terrorism,” he said.
Ibe concluded that the victims of terrorism should not be forgotten in political debates over the conduct of public officials.
“The blood of innocent Nigerians must never be reduced to a footnote in the political careers of their leaders,” he added.
The arrest of Kabiru Sokoto occurred during a period of escalating Boko Haram attacks across northern Nigeria.
The December 2011 bombing of St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla, near Abuja, was among the most prominent attacks during the insurgency’s expansion beyond its principal strongholds in the North-East.
Boko Haram subsequently carried out numerous attacks on civilians, security installations, schools and places of worship.
The April 2014 abduction of schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State, became one of the most internationally publicised episodes of the conflict.
Shettima was governor of Borno State during the period and later became vice president under President Bola Tinubu in 2023.
Bar & Bench Watch reports that however, the arrest of Sokoto at the Governor’s Lodge does not, by itself, establish that Shettima had a personal relationship with the terrorist or knowingly facilitated his access to the facility.
The questions raised by Ibe concern the circumstances of the arrest, the security arrangements at the lodge and the extent to which the authorities investigated the incident.
