Two Senators and a former governor are currently
under surveillance with a view to determining their alleged involvement
in the activities of the violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram,
Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, said on Wednesday.
The three, according to Abubakar, are Senators Ahmed Zanna and Ali Ndume, and a former Governor of Borno State, Modu Sheriff.
The IG added that investigators were collating
evidence on their alleged sponsorship of Boko Haram with a view to
prosecuting them.
He said, “We are working to end terrorism in the
country but we need support from the public; some of the senators are
under watch, but we need evidences to build a strong case against them.
“We cannot take anybody to court without ample evidence. Investigators need evidence to pursue their cases.”
The IG fielded questions from journalists in Abuja
shortly after declaring open a conference of sectional heads, zonal and
state Criminal Investigation Departments.
Operatives of the Joint Military Task Force had
recently arrested a suspected kinpin of the violent sect, Mohammed Bama,
in a house in Maiduguri, believed to belong to Zanna, a senator
representing Borno Central Senatorial District.
But while the senator admitted that Bama is his
nephew , he claimed that the building where Bama was arrested belonged
to Sheriff.
Sheriff, under whose watch as governor of Borno State
the sect was allegedly founded, however, said Zanna should be
thoroughly investigated.
A self-confessed former spokesman for Boko Haram, Ali
Konduga, had named Ndume as a financier of the sect. Ndume, a senator
representing Borno South District, is currently facing trial prosecution
at a Federal
High Court in Abuja. He was arrested November 21, 2011.
Curiously, he was at the time a member of a Presidential committee on
how to curb the activities of Boko Haram.
Meanwhile, the Attorney-General of the Federation and
Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, has urged the National Assembly to
speed up the amendment of the Anti-Terrorism Law pending before it.
Adoke, in an address he delivered at the valedictory
court session held in honour of retired Supreme Court Justice,
Olufunlola Adekeye, in Abuja on Wednesday, said speedy conclusion of
work on the law would reposition the judiciary in the fight against
terrorism.
Explaining that the weakness of the former law necessitated the ongoing amendment, he said, “justice can only be done to terrorists and their financiers if penalties commensurate with their offences are put in place
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