A member of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and Dino Melaye alongside his leading opposition civil society groups yesterday floated a new civil rights group and immediately issued a 14-day ultimatum to the Federal Government to set up an independent probe into an allegation that a former Borno State Governor, Modu Sheriff, was sponsoring the Boko Haram sect and on the arms deal involving $9.3million.
This is in response to the allegation leveled by an Australian negotiator in the Boko Haram crisis, Stephen Davis, who also implicated the immediate past chief of army staff, Azubuike Ihejierika.
Melaye’s new group called: Citizens Arise Movement of Nigeria, CAMON, equally tasked the federal government to “come out clearly on the question of the $9.3 million impounded by the South African authorities since the laws of both South Africa and Nigeria have been expressly violated.”
The group argued that it was necessary to do this so that those involved in the alleged criminal act would be prosecuted and jailed for breaking “our laws and the laws of a foreign country and bringing so much disrepute to our image as a nation.”
CAMON also demanded the prosecution of the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, her counterpart in the Labour and Productivity Ministry, Emeka Wogu, a former Head of the Civil Service, Steve Oronsaye, a former Niger Delta Affairs Minister, Godsday Orubebe, a former Aviation Minister, Stella Odua and others heads of government agencies, who had allegedly been accused of corrupt practices.
Speaking with newsmen, the new civil society group gave their other demands to include:
· -The Nigerian Government should show capacity to contain and defeat the Boko Haram insurgents;
· -The President as the Commander-in-Chief should address the nation on the actual threat posed by the insurgents and the conviction of the Government to urgently defeat them;
· -The federal government and military authorities should ensure adequate care and compensation for the families of soldiers and men of other security agencies who have lost their lives in the course of defending the security, unity and integrity of Nigeria;
· -The names of the “fallen heroes” be published and their identities revealed so that the entire nation can honour them and show respect to their gallantry;
· -The Federal Government should ensure that the death sentence passed on the 12 soldiers accused of mutiny was immediately reverted since the case of official corruption, perceived insensitivity and neglect has been established against the former Brigade Commander
