Since the APC Presidential flag-bearer, Bola Tinubu, unveiled Kashim Shettima, another Muslim, as his running mate on July 10, 2022, opinions and accusations have been flying around.
One particularly worrying allegation is that 55-year-old Shettima, who governed northeastern Borno State from 2011 to 2019, is a sympathizer of terrorist sect Boko Haram.
As everyone already knows, Borno State is the birthplace of Boko Haram and the epicenter of the insurgency.
The terrorist Boko Haram sect was arguably at its deadliest in the state during the period Shettima held sway as governor.
So, what gives?
Why are people linking Shettima to Boko Haram?
Those linking Shettima to Boko Haram have what we may call ‘circumstantial evidence’ going for them.
On the morning of December 25, 2011, a terrorist called Kabiru Abubakar Dikko aka Kabiru Sokoto, masterminded the Christmas Day bombing of St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, Madalla in Niger State.
More than 42 worshippers lost their lives on the day. 75 others were left severely wounded.
After the manhunt for Sokoto commenced, he was first apprehended at the Borno State Governor’s Lodge in Asokoro, Abuja. The Governor of Borno at the time? Kashim Shettima!!
After Sokoto was arrested at Shettima’s Abuja lodge, he was taken to Abaji by police officers to search a house he owned.
He however escaped from police custody while the search was underway.
Zakari Biu, the then head of the Seventh (7) Zonal Command of the Nigeria Police Force handling Boko Haram investigation in the Crime Investigation Department, was suspended by the then Inspector General of Police (IGP) and subsequently placed under house arrest.
Before the incident, Biu supervised the team that lost Sokoto. He was subsequently detained.
The other junior police officers in the team that lost Sokoto were also detained.
Then President Goodluck Jonathan thereafter issued the then IGP, Hafiz Ringim, a 24-hour ultimatum to produce Sokoto. When he failed to do so, Jonathan retired him.
After Sokoto escaped from police custody in Abuja, he fled to Nasarawa and then Taraba where he was eventually re-arrested.
On December 20, 2013, a Judge of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, convicted and sentenced Sokoto to life imprisonment.
Notably, trial Judge, Justice Adeniyi Ademola, observed that Kabiru Sokoto never showed any remorse for his actions throughout the trial, describing him as “a pathological liar with no regard for the truth.”
Tinubu’s running mate, Shettima, has also been repeatedly accused of being complicit in the abduction of over 250 schoolgirls in Chibok, a community in Borno, on April 14, 2014.
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) had declined conducting its tests in Chibok and some other parts of Borno during the period, citing escalating insecurity in the region.
The then Head of WAEC, Charles Eguridu, confessed that Shettima as Governor of Borno State, had assured the body of adequate security.
As it turned out however, the girls were kidnapped from their school during the period; and there was no adequate security in place to prevent the terrorists from corralling them into trucks and driving them to the heart of the Sambisa forest.
According to Eguridu, “We asked the various state governments to relocate all the centers to the state capitals where there would be adequate security.
“The three governors did not respond to our request but instead said they had made adequate arrangements.
“The Borno State government also refused to relocate the students from Chibok to safer places like Maiduguri.”
However, Governor Shettima agreed to relocate students to safer centers for the examinations, after a kidnap incident that shook the world.
In recent times, Ali Modu Sheriff, who governed Borno from 2003 to 2011, has accused Shettima of sponsoring Boko Haram. It has to be said however, that Shettima has in turn accused Sheriff of founding and sponsoring Boko Haram.
Senator Shettima has also been pilloried for being anti-south and for saying “to hell with restructuring” in 2017.
There has been a clamour for restructuring for more than a decade from mostly southern politicians and intelligentsia, as one of the ways of resolving most of the nation’s intractable challenges.
Restructuring is often seen as an action that will majorly benefit the south of Nigeria from where crude oil is drilled.
Speaking during the launch of a book in Abuja, Shettima bellowed: “People are talking about artificial intelligence, other nations are talking about nanotechnology or robotics engineering but unfortunately, the topical issue in Nigeria is restructuring. Restructuring my foot! To hell with restructuring.”
Verdict
While it would be a reach to label Shettima a terrorism apologist or a backer of Boko Haram, Tinubu’s running mate ahead of the 2023 elections, often comes across as a hardliner with extremist views that have now calcified and returned to haunt him.
He hasn’t particularly covered himself in glory as a politician through the years, when it comes to taking a definitive stance against Boko Haram or other terror groups.
There are also no public records of Shettima exonerating or defending himself, after a mass murderer and terrorist was found sheltered in his home in 2012.
He has also not spoken vociferously in the face of alleged complicity in the Chibok girls kidnap saga.
Shettima’s views may have become a tad moderate in recent times as he preaches ethnic, religious tolerance and inclusion.
However, he has to do more to convince undecided voters who still regard him as one of the poster children of the terror bedeviling their nation, when the electioneering campaigns hit the road and reach fever pitch in September.