Pioneer Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Nuhu Ribadu has denied statements linking him with the viral message on social media dealing with Who, Why and How bandits were created in Nigeria.
The message which has been circulating since June 2019 has gone viral, forcing the former anti-graft boss to issues another disclaimer as a follow-up to an earlier one that apparently had not stopped the circulation of the message.
His denial is carried below after with the purported message from him.
The MESSAGE:
“Bandits”” were created by Gen Mohammadu Buhari Rtd to oust Jonathan
Bandits are not Boko Haram nor Herdsmen
It all started in April 2014 when Mohammadu Buhari assembled his ardent supporters, promoters and strategists to determine how to remove President Jonathan Goodluck. Prominent amongst them were El-Rufai, Gen Danbazo (Rtd)……..
A decision was reached to consult Miyatti Allah cattle breeders association for assistance to boot Jonathan Goodluck out of office. Consequently, the National Chairman of Miyatti Allah was engaged to bring in foreign mercenaries. Within a month, 2,000 Fulani fighters were brought in from Mali, Senegal, Niger Republic, Chad, Libya to name but a few. Further 4,000 fighters were stationed in Niger and Chad on standby.
On arrival, they were assembled in Kaduna under the sponsorship of El Rufai and were addressed by various Northern Leaders including the Sultan of Sokoto, Gen Buhari (Rtd) etc.
Specifically, Gen Buhari in his address told the fighters that “the British handed Nigeria over to us the Fulanis at independence. The land (Nigeria) belongs to us. We must reclaim what belongs to us.”He added that at the event that Jonathan Goodluck worn the election, the Fulani machinery must fight until they regain control of the country. He assured them that the Nigerian Army was behind them.
The mercenaries received initial training from the Commandant of the Nigerian Defence Academy and were sent to 6 camps in Ekiti State, Benue State, Katsina State, Kaduna State, Zamfara State and Borno State.
In the camps, brand new pick-up trucks, generators etc were provided them. Nigerian Airforce helicopters were used to provide them essential supplies like food, water, drinks and even arms and ammunitions.
Evidently, Jonathan Goodluck lost the election in 2015 through a well orchestrated election organised by INEC under a Fulani Chairman, Professor Jega. Gen Buhari (Rtd) was sworn in as the president. This saw the emergence of a Fulani president through a dodgy election hence the planned violent war was averted.
Contrary to expectation, the mercenaries in the various camps were abandoned, no more food and essential supplies. The relationship between Miyatti Allah, El Rufai (now a State Governor) and Dambazo broke down. El Rufai arrogantly declared that they were not needed anymore and they should go back. Consequently, the killings in Kaduna commenced as a warning to El Rufai but it did not bother him. He declared that he had paid the people carrying out the killings and they did not want to stop. The Nigerian police did not bother to call Gov El Rufai to give further clarification on this.
The Mercenary at the various camps decided to go about to find food for themselves by robbing people, going into farm lands and kidnapping. Miyatti Allah made several efforts to contact El Rufai and Dambazzo to appeal to them to provide money to return these fighters to where they came from. All efforts proved abortive. The mercenaries at this point vacated their organised camps and took to crime.
The criminal gangs which emanated from these mercenaries were at this point described as “Bandits” in order to differentiate them from other notorious terrorist groups like Fulani Herdsmen, Boko Haram etc.
Following the untold destruction and killings which the Bandits carried out especially in Katsina and Zamfara, the Northern leaders in conjunction with officials of Nigerian Government requested Miyatti Allah to intervene and remove the Bandits from Nigeria. Miyatti Allah returned demanding 150 Billion Naira to settle the Bandits and evacuate them. The Government turned the offer down and restricted itself to the payment of 100 Billion Naira.
Shamefully Godwin Emefiele raised 100 Billion Naira for the settlement as a condition for his re-appointment as the Central bank Governor.
Miyatti Allah collected the money and purportedly distributed it but nothing changed.
In a bid to control the damage, President Buhari directed that RUGA initiative be setup to create colonies for these fighters in every state in Nigeria.”
HIS DENIAL:
“Around mid last year a rainless message purportedly emanating from me started circulating. The statement shared around social media platforms attributed to me devilish insinuations on alleged origin of banditry in parts of Nigeria.
I initially ignored what was clear inanity and cheap blackmail as I thought no right-thinking person will fall for such mischief. However, when it persisted, on July 17, 2019, I issued a disclaimer on my Twitter handle to disown the viral message.
But to my chagrin, over six months after the initial rebuttal, the manufacturers of the hateful message and their co-travelers, those who peddle whatever is capable of creating disaffection are back at it.
For the avoidance of doubt, I have never at any time wrote or said those words being attributed to me. I have no knowledge of the details contained in the disjointed propaganda message in circulation and I urge the public to disregard it.
I also appeal to concerned security agencies to investigate the genesis of the fake message and fish out the perpetrators. Purveyors of fake news, more so one that is clearly a threat to national security should not be allowed to thrive.”
Nuhu Ribadu, 6-2-2020
