Senator Zanna Is A Boko Haram Kingpin, Says FormerBorno Governor Modu Sheriff

Ahmed Zanna, the Senator for Borno Central in
whose Maiduguri home an alleged Boko Haram
top commander was arrested late two days ago,
"is a drowning man" who must be fully
investigated.
This verdict was passed in a press statement
today by Senator Modu Sheriff, the former
governor of the state, who called on the security
authorities to fully investigate the incident and
Senator Zanna's possible links with Boko Haram.
He also drew attention to Zanna's "Hajj-by-road"
activities for which, he said, the legislator was
suspected to have used as a façade for the
importation of arms and window for the training
of terrorists.
Shuaibu Mohammed Bama, called a "high profile
Boko Haram commander" by the Joint Task Force
(JTF), was arrested in "a serving politician's
house," JTF announced on Friday.
Following the JTF press statement, Senator Zanna
told newsmen that although Bama was his
nephew, the arrest did not take place in his
home. "Since he was not arrested in my house,
they should go and investigate his relationship
with people they arrested him in their house," he
said.
But the former governor scoffed at that account.
"Senator Zanna in a comic u-turn, shortly after
these developments, told journalists in a face-
saving interview that while he could not deny his
relationship with his nephew, he disowned his
house where the JTF arrested the suspect,
stressing that the house belongs to Senator Ali
Modu Sheriff the immediate former governor of
the state."
The former governor, who is now the chairman of
the Board of Trustees of the All Nigeria People's
Party, noted that Zanna has had a "recent political
encounter" with him, and now "appears desperate
to settle scores by dragging Ali Sheriff into the
controversy."
Said Modu Sheriff: "Senator Zanna's
inconsistencies in trying to defend himself are
clear indication of a sinking man's desperate
attempt to hang himself on anything available in
order to save his neck. If not so, what would his
nephew be doing in the so-called house of Senator
Ali Sheriff, the man he said is his political rival?"
The ex-governor said Senator Zanna has "obvious
involvement with Boko Haram, given his past
antecedence where people finger him as illegal
importer of arms via his Hajj-by-road fame."
He said it was common knowledge in Borno state
that Senator Zanna takes some hapless Nigerians
on a seeming religious voyage by road only to put
some of them into terrorist activity and illegal
arms importation.
While it is not clear if he had ever reported this
information to the security agencies, the former
governor said that some of the so-called "pilgrims
by road" have been traced to terrorists' camps in
Afghanistan and Syria, and not Saudi Arabia, their
preferred destination.
"It is very much on record that 27 of such pilgrims
are still missing uptill date."
He refuted the senator's claims that he had
parted ways with his nephew, Shuaibu Bama,
saying he can "authoritatively confirm" the man
was still his associate up to the time of his arrest.
He further queried why Senator Zanna never
spoken against the atrocities being committed by
Boko Haram, noting that instead, he has been
calling for the declaration of state of emergency or
the disbandment of the JTF.
The former governor also declared the People's
Democratic Party in Borno State as "the engine
room behind Boko Haram," arguing that Zanna
being the second senator fingered as having links
with Boko Haram confirms "the wildly believed
theory."
He wondered how the Senator who he accused of
not having visited Borno or his constituency even
once since his inauguration can afford to play
politics with the serious issue at stake by
sponsoring terrorism against his own people.
"At his age and with the position he holds as a
senator of the Federal Republic we felt it is the
height of un-patriotism and irresponsibility for
Senator Ahmed Zanna to not only fuel the crisis in
Borno, but to attempt to drag the names of
descent citizens, like Ali Sheriff in the mud," the
statement said.

Sahara Reporters