Obasanjo narrates his 2011 encounter with members of Boko Haram

Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has painted a vivid picture of an encounter he has with members of the terrorist group, Boko Haram in 2011.

Obasanjo met with members of the sect and some family members of Mohammed Yusuf, founder of the group.

According to Daily Trust, he was received at the Maiduguri airport, Obasanjo was received by the then deputy governor, Zanna Umar Mustapha.

The 2011 meeting

The meeting, which was held at Yusuf’s family members at Railway Quarters, the demolished headquarters of the sect, lasted about 90 minutes.

Speaking at the meeting, Obasanjo had said, “This is a personal initiative. I urge you to forgive and forget the past. I plead with you, give me the chance to mediate between the family and government.”

In response, Babakura Fugu, Yusuf’s brother-in-law, whose father was executed in 2009, had said, “Since 2009, this is the first time any high profile figure would be commiserating with the family.

“We are happy with this visit. About 30 to 40 percent of our members are scattered in neighbouring countries of Chad, Niger, and Cameroun.”

Unfortunately, Fugu was killed 24 hours after Obasanjo’s visit.

Speaking at the 2022 annual lecture of the Murtala Muhammed Foundation (MMF), which was held on Monday, February 21 Obasanjo said his fear about Boko Haram insurgency had materialized with their links with international terrorist organizations.

He said that the group had no intentional dimension at the time he met with them, however, the poor handling of the situation by successive governments threw the crisis out of hand.

He also blamed insecurity in the country on the access to weapons after the Nigerian civil war.

The program had as its theme, “Beyond Boko Haram: Addressing Insurgency, Banditry, and Kidnapping across Nigeria”.

Obasanjo said, “We are not going anywhere until we take national building seriously. Justice and equity. We must build a society where everyone feels it has a stake. The insecurity in the country was caused as a result of the ease to access weapons and since then we have been unable to address the issue; it keeps getting worse.

“In 2011 when Boko Haram was just rearing its ugly head, I went to Maiduguri to try and find out a little bit more about Boko Haram and to also find out what their objective was apart from being interested in Sharia, they also complained that their followers had no job and, in their effort, to getting something legitimate efforts to help their members.

“In the process, the government started chasing them and gunning them down. What I feared at that time seems to have been happening at that time, Boko Haram had not many external connections then, the ones they had would be Nigerians who had resources abroad, who were helping them.”