New York [RR] ABUJA–Ex-Military dictator Ibrahim Babangida through multiple agents that include his spokesman Afegbua denied bombshell revelation that linked him as one of the sponsors of Boko Haram alongside some officials at CBN (like Sanusi-Lamido-Sanusi) former VP, Atiku Abubakar, Mohammadu Buhari and others by Sheik Sani Haliru. Sheik Sani Haliru said he is a born again Christian said he was misled all along by what he called ”Satanic Verses” stating that Islam is not a religion of peace, but rather a relgion of violence. He quoted sections of Koran to back up his argument in the  bombshell interview that Babangida and others are sweating all over.        

In a communication culled to Republic Reporters New York IBB in a statement denied “the news in the social media as regards the assertion of one Sheik Sani Haliru, alleging that was one of the financiers/sponsors of the Boko Haram Islamic sect, stating that the allegation was spurious and unfounded. Social media, especially Facebook, has been inundated with a purported interview granted by the sheik, who named Babangida as one of the sponsors of Boko Haram sect.

[PHOTO: Multiple faces of Babangida and killings in what is called Nigeria, denies Dele Giwa killing and muttle other unreadable stuff...] 

Tribune and other news media picked up purported statement posted on the Facebook wall of the former military president on Monday. His media assistant, Mr Kazeem Afegbua, said:  “We have read and assimilated the effusions of a deluded mind by name Sheik Sani Haliru, who, for want of very cheap relevance, decided to mention the highly respected name of IBB as one of the ‘sponsors’ of what he called Boko Haram. From our first reading, we felt it would amount to giving undue relevance to a confused mind if we volunteer a response, but for our teeming supporters, associates and friends of IBB, and for the price we owe history, we decided to offer this disclaimer.”

Tribune and other news media picked up purported statement posted on the Facebook wall of the former military president on Monday. His media assistant, Mr Kazeem Afegbua, said:  “We have read and assimilated the effusions of a deluded mind by name Sheik Sani Haliru, who, for want of very cheap relevance, decided to mention the highly respected name of IBB as one of the ‘sponsors’ of what he called Boko Haram. From our first reading, we felt it would amount to giving undue relevance to a confused mind if we volunteer a response, but for our teeming supporters, associates and friends of IBB, and for the price we owe history, we decided to offer this disclaimer.”

The statement said Babangida could not remember such names that claimed to know him, whether as almajiri or a jihadist, but said that “reading through the interview, one is easily confronted with a number of inconsistencies and well orchestrated conclusions that are spuriously out of place.”
According to the statement, a copy of which was made available to the Nigerian Tribune in Minna, Niger State capital, on Monday, one of the inconsistencies of the said interview was the claim that Dele Giwa was killed by suicide bombing, saying that it was a common knowledge that Dele Giwa died of a parcel bomb.
“We have every cause to believe that the interview was carefully scripted to convey the message intended and not one conducted under a question and answer basis. The responses of the said Sani Haliru attest to this fact. From that premise, therefore, it will be safe to conclude that the interview was structured by certain agents of government to satisfy pre-determined position,” the statement added.
He said the questions by the interviewer were also leading questions, tending to achieve the predetermined end of the initiators of the interview, while adding that the motive was to mislead people on agenda clearly set out to achieve.

“He talked about his fear of going to jail, why will a man of God be afraid of incarceration or jail if the cause he is pursuing is truly altruistic? How could someone with facts about Boko Haram be saying that he is afraid the SSS will arrest him if he ventured those facts, when the whole wide world is patiently waiting to get a road map out of the Boko Haram pogrom? There are also instances where third person narrative tenor is given to Sheik Sani Haliru, thus making the whole exercise curiously misleading and utterly unconscionable to warrant any serious recognition.
“We are, therefore, at sea to reconcile any of the claims as truly reflective of any sound mind, save that we have every reason to believe that this is purely a well-scripted interview to give our revered IBB a bad name. What the real motive of the interview is remains to us very worrisome, because we cannot in any way rationalise the immediate or remote intentions of the interviewee and the interviewer.
“For purposes of record, General IBB wishes to disclaim whoever that might have granted such interview and wish to emphatically state that there is no iota of truth in whatever the interviewee must have put down. There is no connection whatsoever between himself and the so-called Sheik Sani Haliru.
“It will serve good purpose if the said Sani Haliru could disclose his age in 1985, 1987 and 1992, because his claim of 44 years of Boko Haram activities could be self-contradicting if we are able to know his real age. 1985 till date is a record 27 years. By the time we subtract that age from 44, the guess is as good as mine.
“One couldn’t possibly know what feat a 17-year-old boy would perform in 1985 to warrant any linkage with IBB. It will also be of good use if he could disclose the instances where IBB is directly and indirectly connected or linked to his activities, how much money he was given, who gave the money and what period of time?
“We, therefore, wish to inform the public to disregard and ignore whoever might be the face behind that name called Sheik Haliru and the message of doom that he seems desperate to propagate,” Afegbua said.

Sheik Sani Haliru said in the bombshell explosion said in an exclusive interview told reporters that he has close relationship with Buhari and Mohammadu Yusuf. Sheik Sani Haliru said: “I have worked so closely with Mohammadu Buahri for five years, and I can prove it that General Buhari is the most notable outspoken jihadist hardliner in Nigeria who is also strategically sponsoring Boko Haram.

When asked beside IBB if there were others involved. He said: “They are many, but IBB is the major financier. He introduced the suicide bombing that started when he killed Dele Giwa. I have the names of six traditional rulers and seven present & ex-Governors as well as several top military and security officers who are co-sponsoring the so called Boko Haram. That apart, I have documented evidences to prove that General Mohammadu Buhari, Alhaji Abubaka Atiku and other top politicians and traditional rulers are some of the people behind Boko Haram. Very soon, nemesis will catch up with them.

Meanwhile according sources members of “the dreaded Jama’atul Ahlul Sunma wal Liddawati wal Jihad sect, also known as Boko Haram, have said there will be no let-up in the bombings and killings perpetrated by them, notwithstanding the arrest of Kabiru Sokoto and Abu Dardaa, kingpins of the sect.
This came as the sect, on Sunday night, exchanged fire with the Joint Task Force (JTF) on Operation Restore Order in Borno State that left a number of people dead in Maiduguri, the state capital, as well as in Baga, on the shores of Lake Chad in Kukawa Local Government Area of the state.

“The new spokesperson for Boko Haram, who also adopted the name Abul Qaqa, told newsmen in a telephone interview in Maiduguri, on Monday, that the deadly activities of their group had Allah’s backing and that the group was sure of victory at the end of the day. He also threatened to carry out more bomb attacks in the country, especially on telecommunications outfits and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
According to him, the inclusion of the telecommunications firms was to discourage them from aiding the NCC and intelligence operatives in tracking targeted members of the sect through their phone lines.
“We need not warn them, because they would not take us seriously but an attack will give them the idea of what we mean by our threats,” he said.
He alleged that Boko Haram killed 12 members of the JTF in the Sunday attack, although the spokesperson for the JTF was not available to confirm the claim by Qaqa.
Speaking on the recent arrest of the two prominent members of the group by security agencies, Qaqa described it as a trial for the nabbed leaders from Allah himself, adding that Allah would create an avenue for them to escape from custody again.
It said: “Qaqa, who is undergoing interrogation at the headquarters of the State Security Service (SSS), was said to have confirmed that a huge crack has set into the operations of the sect.
“Qaqa, who was arrested in Kaduna by a combined team of the SSS and the military, was said to have confirmed that the sharing formula applied in distributing the N41 million stolen from a bank caused distrust among members.
“He was also said to have confirmed that while the sect had five laid down ways of sharing such loot, the leader, Imam Abubakar Shekau, changed the rules and largely confiscated the loot.
He was also said to have painted a picture of internal discontent among members, adding that the leaders were dictatorial.
He also disclosed that while the funds raised by sect members were supposed to be shared into five parts, including the underprivileged, widows of those that died in the Jihad, Zakat for those that brought in the money, and the last to the leadership to be used in prosecuting the Jihad, the leaders often confiscated part of the share meant for the foot soldiers.
He was also quoted as telling his interrogators that one other source of discontent among members was the decision of the leader, Shekau, to marry out wives of deceased members, and sometimes take over wives of members who got killed during operations.
He was quoted as saying that even one of the wives of Mohammed Yusuf was so married by Shakau.
A source quoted him as saying that “A major source of distrust and acrimony in the group was the N41million got from bank robbery that was not accounted for.”
He added that usually, the money was supposed to be shared along the five known formula adopted by the sect.
He said that members were unhappy that they were being treated anyhow by the leadership.
“Another source further quoted him as saying: “We don’t know how this money (N41 million) was spent and nobody dare asked questions for fear of death. Even those that took part in the robberies are also always compelled to pay Zakat on their share to the leadership. The leader (Shakau) appropriates what goes to the widows, less privileged, Zakat and leadership.”
The Boko Haram spokesman was also said to have told his interrogators that the leader of the sect often gave out wives of those killed the way he wanted and that “he is married to one of Mohammed Yusuf’s wives.”
Meanwhile, while speaking on the shootout between members of the sect and the JTF, spokesman for the JTF, Lieutenant-Colonel Hassan Moha-mmed, told newsmen in Maiduguri that contrary to the claims of victory by the sect member over the JTF in Sunday night’s battle, the JTF had actually succeeded in killing 12 members of the Boko Haram sect, while two soldiers sustained injury.
According to him, the sect members ambushed and attacked soldiers around Budun area of the metropolis, but were unsuccessful as the soldiers returned fire, killing 12 members of the sect.
He said JTF noted that some people around the area were allowing the use of their residents by members of the sect to attack men of the JTF and, therefore, warned that such act would not be taken lightly.
In a telephone interaction, some of the residents of Bundun Ward area cordoned off by JTF operatives told the Nigerian Tribune that the soldiers were driving recklessly when their vehicle hit an electric pole, leading to the death of some of them.
They said they saw six vehicles loaded with soldiers, shortly after the accident, firing sporadically into the air in the area and making people to take to their heels.

“Several calls to the telephone of the JTF spokesperson, Lieutenant-Colonel Mohammed and the Field Operations Officer, Colonel Victor Ebhaleme, did not go through, Vanguard reported Tuesday.

Read full text beneath:

Q: General Buhari told a group of pressmen in April 2011 that there is no compulsion in Islam and it is a religion of peace. He quoted Surah Al-Baqarah Chapter 2:225. What can you say to that?

A: What I can say to that is General Buhari, like all other true Muslims, is a hypocrite who is shying away from the fact.

Question: Who are you and where are you from?

Answer: My name is Sheik Sani Haliru. I am from Niger Republic, but my mother is from Bornu State of Nigeria and I grew up in Wulari, Maiduguri, (Northern Nigeria) where I was trained.

Q: Trained as what and under whose tutelage?

A: I was trained as an Almajiri, after four years, at the age of 14, I was sent to Kano City, Kano State where I was trained in the Sheik Abubakar Gummi School of Arabic studies.

Q: So you know Sheik Abubakar Gummi?

A: Yes, and I also know his children and obeyed all the teachings he laid down before he died.

Q: So who tutored you and who is your mentor?

A: Sheik Abubakar Gummi tutored me. My mentor was Osama bin Laden, and until my conversion from Islam to the Christian faith, my dreams and aspirations in life was to do more than Osama bin Laden did before he died on Sunday, May 1, 2011.

Q: You said that your mentor was Osama bin Laden. Is he still your mentor?

A: I am now a changed person. The Sheik Sani Haliru is now a new creature, old things have passed away because I now have Jesus Christ that I hated and persecuted for 44 years.

Q: Tell me about your past and how many countries of the World you have been to?

A: I cannot tell all about my past because it will take several days to tell my story and about my conversion experience to Christianity. I have been to eight countries.

Q: Can you please name them?

A: I have been to Sudan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Libya, Somalia, Egypt and of course to my own country Niger Republic.

Q: Where did you receive your training and as what?

A: I received my training in Libya and Pakistan as an Attack Strategist. I was trained along side with some highly placed Nigerians and other foreign Nationals who were marked (he showed me the proof of his mark with a sign) in the form of a sword in the hand to fight and kill for Allah.

Q: Can you give me some of the names of your colleagues with whom you received training in Libya and Pakistan?

A: They are scattered all over the country and we were not too many then.

Q: Just mention but a few names.

A: Ali Baba Nur, Asari Dokubo, Jasper Akinbo, Mohammed Yusuf, Salisu Maigari, Danlami Abubakar, Cletus Okar, Ali Qaqa, Maigari Haliru and Asabe Dantala to mention but a few.

Q: Which of the Asari’s do you mean?

A: The Niger Delta war king. He was a year ahead of me in Benghazi training camp in Libya.

Q: Who financed your training in Libya and Pakistan?

A: You will not believe me and only God will judge the Chief sponsor of terrorism in Nigeria whose name I will not mention because he is so powerful and even the president of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, is so much afraid of the man.

Q: If you really know the Christ in you, why are you afraid to tell me the name of the man who sponsored you and the date or approximate period he sponsored you.

A: I am not afraid because he knows me and he cannot deny it if he sees me face to face.

Q: Then tell me, who is this powerful man?

A: The man is no other person than the man they call IBB now as I am talking to you, General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida has more than 600 men and women Jihadists who are under his pay role. They are scattered all over the Country and he (IBB) can use them to destroy Nigeria.

Q: Did you say six hundred?

A: Yes 600 + IBB’s agents of destruction are in the Nigeria Army (NA), Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Navy, Air Force, Oil and Gas sectors, even in the finance home such as in top level positions of CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria) and other banks. You find them in politics, in the Senate, National Assembly, in the media both print and electronic and even in Aso Rock, Abuja (Nigeria’s capital).

Q: How do you mean by this statement “and even in the finance…”?

A: Yes, I mean every word I say; even the Islamic bank champion was planted by IBB to help in Islamizing Nigeria.

Q: So how can you describe IBB?

A: IBB is a “green snake” in green grass. He is the main problem of Nigeria along with members of the Cabal.

Q: Have you forwarded any of these evidence(s) to Aso Rock or to SSS (State Security Services)?

A: I attempted to do so a few weeks ago and I was arrested and detained for two days because IBB’S men are so many in SSS (State Security Services) as well. After I was released by the grace of God, they (the Police) warned me never to blow up the polity or provoke violence and I should keep my so-called-born-again with me or else I will go to jail.

Q: So you were a key member and a registered jihadist hardliner.

A: Yes, I was.

Q: Under what group?

A: I was a Boko Haramist. But Boko Haram is just a cover name to give it a name. I have my identity as a founding member of the dreaded jama’aful Ahlul sunna wal Liddawati wal Jihad, aka Boko Haram.

Q: Apart from IBB, who are the other top sponsors of terrorism in this country?

A: They are many, but IBB is the major financier. He introduced the suicide bombing that started when he killed Dele Giwa. I have the names of six traditional rulers and seven present & ex-Governors as well as several top military and security officers who are co-sponsoring the so called Boko Haram. That apart, I have documented evidences to prove that General Mohammadu Buhari, Alhaji Abubaka Atiku and other top politicians and traditional rulers are some of the people behind Boko Haram. Very soon, nemesis will catch up with them.

Q: What if I use my influence to guarantee you safety, can you brief the press to expose IBB (General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida) with all these documents that I am seeing with you right now.

A: Only God can guarantee my safety. He did so on that fateful day when the SSS and police wanted to secretly kill me because of what I unveiled. I would have been a dead man by now if not for a man of God who came as an “Angel” to quietly free me. Right now, I am wanted dead or alive by IBB and his agents of destruction in high places. The SSS are busy hunting for me up & down and arresting and torturing innocent people because of me.

Q: What if I connect you to a man of God by the name of Brother Mike Ejiofor, who is a lawyer, a professional negotiator and a mediator who was the Director of SSS until October 2010?

A: I only wish to be connected to God.

Q: So how can you describe this country?

A: Nigeria is sifting under an Islamic barbaric bomb (IBB). Only God can rescue this nation because 75% of Christians are prayer less. Why? Because they are in their own comfort zone. They do not know what the Christians in Northern Nigeria are passing through and they ignorantly are thinking that the Allah of the Muslims is the same as the God of Christians in the Holy Bible who says: “Thou shalt not kill”.

Q: What does the Qur’an say about Islam being referred to as a religion of peace by numerous Muslim scholars?

A: Let me tell you in a very clear language that Islam is not a religion of peace, but it is of violence, of killers and fighters as already stated in their so called “Holy” Qur’an which I ignorantly followed all these years when I was spiritually blinded as a Muslim.

Q: Can you prove these statements from the Qur’an?

A: [Sani Haliru, who is now known as Solomon Haliru (Paul Haliru’s brother)] brought out two copies of the original Qur’an in the Arabic & English translation. He gave me one, and told me to open the book to Surah Al- baqarah chapter 2 vs 216. It says, “Holy fighting is ordained (prescribed) for all muslims, whether they like it or not, as far as it is good and approved by Allah through his prophet Mohammed.”

Q: Where is it in the Qur’an that killing is also permitted by Allah?

A: Look at Surah Al-baqarah chapter 2 vs 191 “And kill them wherever you find them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out. An Al-Fitnah is worse than killing. And fight not with them at Al-Masjid-Al-Haram (the sanctuary at Makkah), unless they (first) fight you there. But if they attack you, then kill them. Such is the recompense of the disbelievers.” Muslims are told to kill and fight in the cause of Allah.

Q: Does it mean that IBB and all these Muslim traditional rulers and Governors that are sponsoring Boko Haram to kill Christians and burn our churches in the North are not aware of the passage in the Qur’an that says there must not be compulsion in Islam as Mohammadu Buhari asserted in a widely publicized interview on Saturday, the 21st of April, 2011?

A: I have worked so closely with Mohammadu Buahri for five years, and I can prove it that General Buhari is the most notable outspoken jihadist hardliner in Nigeria who is also strategically sponsoring Boko Haram.

Q: General Buhari told a group of pressmen in April 2011 that there is no compulsion in Islam and it is a religion of peace. He quoted Surah Al-Baqarah Chapter 2:225. What can you say to that?

A: What I can say to that is General Buhari, like all other true Muslims, is a hypocrite who is shying away from the fact.

Q: How do you mean by saying that most Muslim millionaires and highly placed Muslims are “pretenders and shying away from the fact”?

A: What I mean is that they (Muslims-both rich and poor) are told to use their position of wealth (or otherwise) to promote Islam or else they will face destruction from Allah.

Q: Where can you find this in the Qu’ran?

A: Open Surah Al-Baqarah Chapter 2:195, it is written here that you must use your wealth to champion Jihad of all kinds or else destruction is waiting for such a person on the last day.

“And spend in the Cause of Allah (i.e. Jihad of all kinds) and do not throw yourselves into destruction (by not spending your wealth in the Cause of Allah), and do good. Truly, Allah loves Al-Muhsinun (the good-doers).”

Q: Have you ever been detained or arrested?

A: Nobody could arrest me until the year 2009 soon after my immediate boss Mohammed Yusuf was killed. About 23 of us were arrested in one of our hideouts in Bauchi. But when Governor Isa Yagiuda heard about it, he immediately arranged for me to be free. Even before his official broadcast in 2010 that he was using his position as the executive Governor of Bauchi State (Northern Nigeria) to free 28 prisoners from Bauchi Central Prison, I was already a free man along with several of my colleagues.

Q: Now can you tell me some of the horrible crimes that you committed and how you got born again and became converted.

A: Old things have passed away and I don’t want to talk about the past, because like Apostle Paul said, we need to press forward in Christ Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

Q: Just mention a few to assist some of us who are making efforts to unravel the mystery of the menace called Boko Haram which you have renounced.

A: I took part in the Kaduna riot of 1992 and in several northern states of Nigeria, but the state I operated more from was Bornu (northern Nigeria) where I was the State Commander/Chief Strategist.

Q: So as Chief Attack Strategist, what crimes have or did you commit before you renounced the deadly sect?

A: In the early months of May 1986, I was among the 36 Jihadist hardliners, who went on a rampage to attack Christian students of the University of Sokoto (Sokoto State in northern Nigeria). In that same week, the Federal Government of Nigeria under the brutal leadership of IBB mobilized us and provided some military vans and Army uniforms which our men used and started killing innocent and defenseless Christians all over the Northern states. I and the son of the Emir of Kano, who is now a Christian by name Rev. Paul Ado Bayero, were among the Muslim fanatics who razed down the sculpture of Jesus at the University of Ibadan (Oyo State in western Nigeria).

The following year, March 5, 1987 to be very precise, the “Evil Genius” General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida secretly armed us through one of his close aids by the name of Captain Hassan Abubakar (now a Pastor with a fast growing church in Lagos). We went to go and kill some targeted Christians including Rev. Nuhu Kure (Throne room founder) after the destruction we committed at the College of Education in Kafanchan, Kaduna State (North Central Nigeria). And of recent, I was the leader of the team of soldiers of Allah that destroyed Church buildings and properties in Bornu State (northern Nigeria).

Q: Can you name some of the buildings and Churches you and your Boko Haramists destroyed?

A: There are many, but our main targets which we succeeded in destroying included: Goodnews & ECWA Church, Damboa Road, Maiduguri E.Y.N.L.C.C. Wulari, National Evangelical Mission Inc. Divisional Headquarters Wulari, Elijah Apostolic Christ Church, Oke Ayo Celestial Church of Christ, Deeper Life Bible Church, the Lord’s Chosen and six others in Railway Area and all over Wulari in Maiduguri, Borno State. Other church buildings we destroyed and looted include the Aposotic Church, COCIN Church, Evangelical Church/Mission Headquarters, Anglican Church, Baptist Church/Mission, Redeemed Christian Church of God, El-Shaddai Parish, Watchman Charismatic and several others.

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REPUBLICREPORTERS….standing between civilization and anarchy….