The recent official visit of President Muhammadu Buhari
to Cameroun to discuss joint efforts to curb Boko Haram in the region has
thrown up an indictment of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
A very credible
Presidency source told Daily Sun that
in the anti-terror war, Jonathan did not do much in forming a synergy with
leaders of Nigeria’s neighbouring countries.
The source said during
Buhari’s interaction with his Camerounian counterpart, Paul Biya, he disclosed
that Jonathan isolated himself from the leaders of Cameroun, Chad and Niger.
“The major complaint, according to Biya, is that Jonathan never or seldom, at
best, picked his calls. He said most times he called, Jonathan neither picked
nor returned his calls. And as a result, the integration of efforts that should
have stopped Boko Haram’s foray and unchallenged run was lacking.”
Biya, said he was sure
that leaders of other neighbouring countries had the same experience, and
therefore, questioned how Nigeria alone would have contained Boko Haram,
knowing it is an international terror group with roots and connections in some
other countries from where they get into Nigeria and carry out attacks.
“This solo handling of
the problem did not enable the neighbours put in much to solve the problem
until it got this bad,” he said.
The source also
indicated that the Jonathan administration was lax and reluctant to bring under
control people very close to that government who are flagrantly involved in
crude oil theft and diversion.
According to the source, while Jonathan was in power, he
was aware that certain persons close to him and coming under the guise of the
protection of his government were involved in high scale oil theft.
Another source from the
security outfit currently interrogating some key personalities of the past
administration disclosed that one of them that was detained and later released
told security agencies the Jonathan administration was quite privy to crude oil
theft using some government agencies and individuals as fronts.
Daily Sun was told that the administration acted in
compromise while the theft lasted and never did much in checking the agencies,
individuals and security fronts used in the theft.
“There is no individual
that would have access to the crude oil loading terminals, bring in a vessel
and load the product and set sail to the high seas without being caught. We
have several agencies of government from the petroleum corporation to the
conventional security bodies like the Navy and other government bodies that patrol
the territorial waters, even private security outfits.
“So it is practically
impossible that someone would beat all these hurdles unaided and sail out with
loads of crude oil. The government was aware of the people involved and when or
where the crude oil was taken. The neighbouring countries we share common sea
boundaries with also knew that the Nigerian government under Jonathan merely
compromised in the theft,” our source said.
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