Boko Haram: Ihejirika threatens to sue Australian negotiator, demands $50b compensation

Former Chief of Army Staff, Lt- General Azubuike Ihejirika (rtd), has threatened to drag the Australian negotiator, Stephen Davis to court if he fails to retract his earli­er statement alleging that he (Ihejirika) did sponsor the activities of Boko Ha­ram. Recall that Davis in an interview with Australian ABC and Nigerian Arise TV stations, alleged that he was informed by Boko Haram commanders, whom he claimed to have inter­acted with, that there were prominent politicians, who have been sources of fund­ing to Boko Haram. He was quoted to have said: “ There is a former Chief of Army Staff, who retired in Janu­ary, rightly sacked by the President, who is another sponsor of the Boko Harm sect.” The threat to drag Davis to court was contained in ad­vertorial published on pages 32 and 33 of yesterday’s Daily Sun, by his solicitors, Illegbune & Co, entitled, “Complainant of your ficti­tious, unfounded, malicious and gravely defamatory al­legation of sponsorship of Boko Haram insurgency by LT. General Onyeabo Azu­buike Ihejirika.” In the letter, he also de­manded a well-worded apology should be pub­lished in local and interna­tional print and electronic media, including at least three Nigerian national newspapers, within seven working days that started counting yesterday. The letter also stated that a payment of $50 billion be made as compensation to Ihejirika, for the irreparable loss to his highly earned im­age and reputation. “ Be strongly warned that, if at the expiration of the above period, you fail, refuse or neglect to comply with the demands, we shall be left with no other option than to proceed with req­uisite legal action for libel against you, to redeem the sterling image and reputa­tion of our client; wherein we shall be demanding for specific and exemplary damages, without further recourse to you. In that case , you will have yourself, and not Ihejirika to blame.” the letter reads in parts. Highlighting all Ihejiri­ka’s achievements while in service, his solicitors insist­ed that the present govern­ment was mindful of Ihe­jirika’s successes and found him worthy to be honoured with the Commander of the Federal Republic(CFR). “It is on record that the Nige­rian Army under our Ihejiri­ka’s watch battled the dead­ly Boko Haram insurgents and other militant groups and security threats across the country and beyond, to a standstill preventing them from settling up camps in Kogi , Niger, Sokoto, Kano, Adamawa and some other states. Glaringly, General Ihe­jirika fought the Boko Ha­ram terrorists and other mil­itant groups with incisive military resolve and ensured that all military commands and units were issued clear and unambiguous instructions aimed at rid­ding the country of insur­gency. “It is worthy to note that as Chief of Army Staff, like all other mili­tary chiefs before and after him, Ihejirika main­tained visible spread of officers and soldiers across ethnic and reli­gious divide in all com­mand and units, along the length and breadth of the country. ‘We make bold to state without fear of contradic­tion, that Ihejirika had never overtly or covertly, identified with, aligned with, entertained and or shared any form of terror­ist ideology, much more the thought of having anything to do with the sponsorship of Boko Ha­ram terrorists or any crim­inal activity or group, and would never do so. Such a baseless allegation is, to say the least, a figment of the originators ‘s imagi­nation,” the letter further reads.