By Nadahi Marama

MAIDUGURI—AN Elder statesman and former Minister of Petroleum, Dr. Shettima Monguno, has said the type of government being practised in the country was not democracy but “democorruption,” as according to him, the present administration was doing nothing to tackle the high level of corruption in the country.

Mungono spoke at his residence, yesterday, where he led a delegation of Borno elders in appealing to the Jamatul ahlis Sunnah lid Daawa wal Jihad, popularly known as Boko Haram, to lay down their arms and embrace dialogue for the sake of the people of the state.

He said: “On behalf of the Borno Elders Forum, BEF, we appeal to members of the Jamatul Ahlis Sunnah lid Daawa wal jihad to consider the hardship people are going through as a result of the ongoing insurgency and lay down their arms for peace to come back to Maiduguri and its environs.

“God has ordained us to stay together and those trying to divide the country are doing so to achieve their selfish interest. We should be more patriotic and work together towards achieving peace; government also should do justice to the people.

“We have to speak out on behalf of our people to call the warring parties to cease fire and give peace a chance in the interest of the generality of the people.”

irrespective of tribal, religious or political background.

“We are equally appealing to the government to release all innocent detainees amongst the many of the sect members presently in detention. A process of dialogue and reconciliation should immediately be embarked upon. Government should go extra mile to be magnanimous in embracing dialogue and acting positively to put all concerns of the people to rest.”

BEF further appealed to the sect members to lay down their arms, embrace peaceful approach to achieving their goals and equally called on the government to drastically reduce the presence of armed soldiers and road blocks in and around Maiduguri and its environs.

They also appealed to those who capitalised on the security challenges in the state to make money to desist from doing so, even as he described as unfortunate the situation whereby an army general could tell elders to “shut up.”

-Vanguard

Posted by admin on Jun 15 2012. Filed under Boko Haram, Borno, Latest Politics, State News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry