Mother of Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, speaks

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Falmata Abubakar is the mother Abubakar Shekau, the leader of the terrorist organization, Boko Haram. She granted her first media interview to VOA, saying she has not seen her son in 15 years. Photo by Chika Oduah.

The mother of Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, has given what appears to be her first media interview.

Falmata Abubakar spoke with the Voice of America, VOA, in the village of Shekau, Yobe State.

In a report published Thursday, VOA said elders and leader of the village took its team to the woman.

The report also said Mr Shekau’s late father was the Imam of the village mosque before his death.

Ms Abubakar said she had no idea where her son was or his situation.

“I don’t know whether he is dead or alive, only God knows, I have not seen him in the last 15 years,” she said.

Residents of the village said they always hid the identity of their village for fear of being associated with the Boko Haram leader.

Mr Shekau is notorious for his leadership of the deadly group responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of people in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

He has personally carried out the execution of several people including members of the sect he leads. He has also carried out many raids leading to death and destruction of many towns and villages across the North-eastern part of Nigeria.

His mother said Mr Shekau left the village for Maiduguri, the Borno State capital as a young boy in search of Islamic knowledge. She said he was an “almajiri boy” who walks around the streets of Maiduguri looking for food.

She said it was in the course of seeking Islamic knowledge that her son came into contact with the founder of Boko Haram, Mohammed Yusuf. She said the late Boko Haram leader was the one who indoctrinated her son.

“I did not set my eyes on him since he came into contact with Mohammed Yusuf,” she said.

“I know he is my son, and everyone knows a mother’s love for her son, but our attitude to life is different,” she said.

She also said “He has put so many people in serious difficulty, I pray that God guides him right.”

Ms Falmata said she will not curse her son, saying “he has chosen a path different from the one we put him on, only God knows what he has become now.”

Why I’m calling for Buhari’s resignation – Sheik Gumi

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A Kaduna-based Islamic scholar, Ahmad Gumi,

A Kaduna-based Islamic scholar, Ahmad Gumi, has said he has no sympathy for any political party in Nigeria.

He also said he stands by his call on President Muhammadu Buhari to resign due to alleged failure of his government.

Mr Gumi, a very influential Islamic cleric, particularly in Northern Nigeria, stated this at the closing of Ramadan Lecture for 2018 at Shaikh Sanusi Khalil Mosque at Rigachikun, Kaduna on Thursday.

He was reacting to rumours in the state that he was critical of the government of the All Progressives Congress (APC) because of his sympathy for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The rumours arose from a picture of him with two PDP leaders and strident criticism of the administration of President Buhari

But the cleric on Thursday said his criticisms are based on his quest for justice in Nigeria.

On the picture of him sitting between former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Kaduna State governor, Ramalan Yero, the cleric said the shot was taken at a public event long ago.

“There was a picture that was snapped at a mosque in Rigachikun. When I was invited to attend a wedding fatiha, on arrival I met him (Mr Yero) and former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, at the mosque.

“Then he (Atiku) was still in APC as a member and contested against President Buhari at the primaries, while Yero was then in PDP as a governor in the state.

“I was asked to sit in their middle so I did. Now the picture is in circulation that I am a PDP member, that PDP paid me to work for them.”

Mr Gumi said he does not look at any Muslim as a PDP or APC member.

“Rather, I see him‎ as a Muslim brother. If he does justice I’m with him whoever he is.”

He said Nigerians should not discriminate among themselves on the basis of politics.

“Anything that we know will bring misunderstanding among us as Muslims we must try to do away with it,” he said.

Mr Gum‎i recently came under criticism by loyalists of President Buhari and APC in the state for speaking against the anti-corruption fight in the country.

He had accused Mr Buhari as prone to mistakes and falling to render good governance, asking the president to resign.

In his regular Ramadan Tafsir on June 9, the cleric said he would not stop pointing fingers at President Buhari’s mistakes, saying his government was a “total failure.”

He recalled also criticising the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan and asking the president to resign or be impeached.

“Nigeria’s newspaper carried a headline in 2012, when I said Jonathan has failed Nigerians and should resign. So I also find it a duty upon me to tell this government the truth, that it is full of mistakes, or else I become a hypocrite.

“Why I blamed Jonathan was because of blood in his hands because Boko Haram were putting bombs everywhere and the government was not doing enough.

“Anybody killed under your regime, you are responsible for that blood. If you have done your best, I can say yes, Allah can forgive you. But if you are relaxed, no; Allah will not forgive you. So it is the same thing now.

“The bloodshed now is more than during Jonathan’s regime. So now you judge yourselves to be fair. Our religion is a religion of fairness.

“Now more blood is shed from negligence, from sleeping, from laziness, from I-dont-care,” he said.

“If I am true to myself, as I called for the resignation of Jonathan, I should call for the resignation of President Buhari, and with immediate effect! And government paper should carry it also, if there is truth.”

The cleric insisted Mr Buhari’s style of leadership is full of errors.

“Buhari is full of mistakes. Full of mistakes! He is a human being like anybody. And I swear to God that there are many people here in the North that can perform better than him.”

June 12: Why my father would’ve accepted Buhari’s award — Gani Fawehinmi’s son

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President Muhammadu Buhari presenting a Post-Humus GCON Award to Mrs Bukola Fawehinmi, wife of late civil rights activist, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, during a Special National Honours Investiture at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Tuesday (12/6/18) 03139/12/6/2018/Callistus Ewelike/BJO/NAN

June 12, 2018QueenEsther Iroanusi

Muhammed Fawehinmi, the eldest son of late human rights activist and lawyer, Gani Fawehinmi, has explained why his father would have accepted the national honours given to him by the Federal Government.

He said this while receiving the posthumous award of the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) on behalf of his father – nearly nine years after his death.

“I know he would have taken it, I know my father more than anybody. There are two reasons why he would have taken it,” Mr Fawehinmi said in response to those insinuating that his father would have rejected the award in principle.

“One, because June 12 was actualised. Two, because M.K.O. Abiola was recognised as president-elect. And you can see from the suggestion at the Senate that they are going to eventually declare the election results and he is going to be given all his benefits after 25 years which he has lost.

“So, for that reason that is victory for him because he went through hell and high waters to make sure that June 12 was actualised,” he said.

In 2008, Mr Fawehinmi rejected national honours given to him by former President Umar Yar’Adua saying the government was not doing enough to fight graft. His family also rejected a similar honour during Nigeria’s centenary celebrations in 2014. He died earlier in September 2009.

ICYMI: I don’t have OBJ’s backing to run for presidency, says Duke

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A presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Donald Duke, on Tuesday said that his ambition was not supported by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Duke, a former governor of Cross River State who recently declared his intention to run for the exalted office, told newsmen in Lagos that though he remained close to Obasanjo, his decision to run was personal.

“I am not hypocritical. I am close to the former president, but he is neither my sponsor nor my backup. However, those who come up with this propaganda also go to get the ex-president’s endorsement.

JUVENTUS SIGNING ICARDI IS FANTASY FOOTBALL

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The club's general manager insists that they are not in negotiations with the Inter striker, but hopes to conclude a deal to acquire Emre Can

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Juventus general manager Beppe Marotta insists the club cannot sign Inter striker Mauro Icardi this summer, insisting reports suggesting such are "fantasy football".

Juve have been linked with a move for the mercurial Argentina international, with several outlets suggesting that Gonzalo Higuain could move the other way.

Marotta, though, says such talk is nonsense, and has scotched any suggesting that Inter have entered into negotiations with Icardi, who scored 29 goals in 34 Serie A appearances this season.

PHOTOS: Dariye weeps as he bags 14-year imprisonment

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The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Gudu, Abuja, on Tuesday sentenced a former Governor of Plateau State and serving senator, Joshua Dariye, to 14 years’ imprisonment on charges of criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of overN1.16bn belonging to the state.

Justice Adebukola Banjoko  ‎in a judgment which took her six and a half hours to read convicted the ex-governor on 15 out the 23 counts preferred against him.

See the photographs of Dariye in court as captured by Olatunji Obasa:

June 12: Stop displaying loyalty to Abiola’s ‘Tormentor-in-Chief,’ Soyinka tells Buhari

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Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka, has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to stop admiring and displaying loyalty to an unnamed individual whom he referred to late MKO Abiola’s “Tormentor-in-Chief.”

Some are of the opinion that he had referred to the late Head of State, Sani Abacha, who clamped the business mogul to jail for about five years.

Abiola died in prison.

SEE ALSO: June 12: You’ve declared 1993 election result, Falana tells Buhari

Although Soyinka did not mention Abacha’s name specifically, the Nobel laureate said it was confusing for Buhari to honour Chief Moshood Abiola on the one hand, and be admiring the late politician’s “Tormentor-in-Chief” on the other.

He wondered why President Buhari will continue to display loyalty to a man he described as “one of the worst dictators in the history of the country” and who should be having his days in court for crime against humanity.

Soyinka said that in a private meeting with Buhari, he had also raised concerns over how the President could be saying his administration was fighting corruption, whereas a major road in the Federal Capital Territory is named after a “corrupt former leader.”

He said he was not satisfied with the response he got from Buhari.

He called on the President to consider establishing a Hall of Shame for those who have wronged the country, just as he puts up Hall of Fame for the nation’s heroes.