Former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minimah on Wednesday accused Nigeria’s elites of using boko haram to advance political, religious and sectional interests.
Lt. Gen. Minimah made the scathing remarks in his valedictory address at the Pulling-Out held in commemoration of his retirement from service.
He said, ”The insurgency snowballed into a graver dimension because these people exploited the security challenge to further sectional, religious and political interests”.
”In the last decade, we have seen the extent to which people who harbour evil against their fellow co-patriots can go to inflict pain and death on innocent people. This is the time for us to rise in unison not only to condemn but to take actions against the activities of the Boko Haram terrorists and other criminal elements in order to foster peace and security in our society.
”Perhaps, if we had all stood against the terrorists at the outset through condemnation of their activities and active collaboration with the military to confront them, rather than use it as a tool to advance section, tribal, religious and political interests, we would not have been where we find ourselves today. We must therefore all unite and support our government and security forces to tackle the current security challenges.”
