Following the renewed onslaught by Boko Haram terrorists on the people of Bauchi, the Human Rights Advocacy Centre has called on the State Security Service (SSS) to investigate a former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Baba Abubakar (rtd).
Mr Abubakar, who served as Chief of Air Staff from July 2015 to January 2021, was appointed to the top military position in Nigeria by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The former service chief ran for governor of Bauchi in the 2023 election on the ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress.
In a letter dated August 8, 2022, and addressed to the Director General of the SSS, Yusuf Magaji Bichi, the group said Bauchi state had been experiencing a rise in insecurity in Bauchi following the emergence of the former Service Chief as the gubernatorial candidate for the APC in the state.
It accused Mr Abubakar of sponsoring the violence in Bauchi by using the terror group to oppress dissenting voices, particularly those that have questioned his strategy for winning the election.
“It is indeed a dire situation in Bauchi State, and Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar and his cronies have instituted a reign of terror in different parts of the state through covert sponsorship of the operations of terror groups. The various indices point in the direction of Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar as the sponsor of the renewed spate of insecurity in the state.”
“Consequently, we are left with no choice but to appeal for the interrogation of Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar to ascertain his complicity and culpability in the recent surge in insecurity in Bauchi state. We fear that if the situation is allowed to fester, Bauch State might erupt in violence and become the new operational headquarters for terrorist groups. We are calling on the DSS to launch an investigation into the spate of insecurity in Bauchi state by interrogating Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar to tell us what he knows about the presence of armed groups in strategic locations around the state.”, Ajibade Adebayo, the convener of the group said in the letter obtained on Sunday.
Mr Abubakar could not be reached for comments Sunday afternoon.
Bauchi experienced a high level of insecurity recently as armed bandits were emboldened in their onslaught on several parts of the state killing innocent residents and destroying goods and properties worth millions of naira.
In June 2022, Governor Bala Mohammed raised the alarm about the violent activities of the terror group when he visited Gida Jada in Alkaleri Local Government Area of the state where bandits rein deadly attack on the locals.
Mr Mohammed had admitted that the relative peace being enjoyed in the state might “collapse” if the terror activities of the bandits are not quickly put on check.
