Boko Haram Disowns Konduga…As Jonathan Says The Sect Will Soon Be History

The Jama'atu Ahlus Sunnah oLidda'awati Wal Jihad, popularly called Boko Haram, has denied knowing Ali Sanda Umar Konduga, who was arrested and paraded by the State Security Service as a member of the sect recently. While calling him an impostor, the

 dreaded sect urged Nigerians not to take his confessions seriously.

Konduga, who claimed to be a spokesman of Boko Haram, had reportedly confessed that the group was sponsored by Senator Ali Ndume from Borno State, former Borno State Governor, Ali Modu Sheriff and the late Nigeria's former Ambassador to Sao Tome and Principe, Saidu Pindar. The group however says the Senator is even one of their targets.

Detained Konduga had claimed to have trained under the late Boko Haram leader, Mohammed Yusuf as a member of 'ECOMOG' political outfit, allegedly sponsored by Sheriff, adding that the relationship between the sect and the ex-governor flourished when Sheriff appointed one of Boko Haram's leaders, Fuji Foi, as commissioner.

He however said the relationship hit the rocks after the Commissioner was sacked and eventually killed. Then the late Pindar took over the sponsorship of the sect according to him. He further said at the death of Pindar, who he claimed died on his way to deliver N5 million out of the N10 million he promised the sect, Senator Ndume stepped in as a financier.

He said the Senator scripted most of the threat messages the group sent to prominent Nigerians and politicians. The SSS had also said they linked constant communication between the Senator and the suspect.

Describing Konduga as an impostor, Abu Qaqa, Boko Haram's reigning spokesman, said there was no relationship between the group and politics. He stressed that the sect's struggle is purely religious.

"The government is just using Konduga, whose claim of being our member was since rejected, to pursue its own interests. He is just an impostor and not our member," Abu Qaqa said adding that the attempts by the SSS to link the group to politicians, especially Senator Ali Ndume and late Ambassador Saidu Pindar as its financiers were just strategies to soil the name of the group and create distractions.

He said: "We have never been associated with any of these people. How could we associate with the same people that are involved in the same system we are struggling to topple?

"Even before the emergence of our Jihadist activities, these politicians have been engaged in their scheming and intrigues and this development is just one of such. It has nothing to do with our group. In fact all these politicians, Ndume, Pindar or David Mark are our potential targets."

Meanwhile, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan said Thursday in Paris that the existence of the extremist sect, Boko Haram, in Nigeria will soon be history due to the intensified efforts by Nigerian security agencies to curb their menace.

Declaring open the biennial Honorary International Investors Council Meeting, President Jonathan assured members of the council and the international community that the Nigerian government was on top of the security situation in the country. 'Very shortly, the tide of Boko Haram will be stemmed,' the President asserted.

President Jonathan, who disclosed that several arrests had been made which led to the wiping out of a cell of the group from Nigeria, said that Nigerian security operatives were working round the clock to rid Borno State of the notorious extremist group.

He said that in addition to ensuring the safety of lives and property all over Nigeria, the Federal Government is equally committed to ensuring food security for the country's growing population and the transformation of the national economy.

'I am happy to inform you that despite the general shrinking of the global economy by 2% in year 2010 and a not too favourable outlook for 2012, Nigeria remains a growing economy, achieving an average growth rate of about 6% in the last three years. Indeed, the economy recorded an average GDP growth rate of 7.85% in 2010 and 7.72% in the second quarter of 2011 respectively.

'To further demonstrate our resolve to transform the economy, the newly created Ministry of Trade and Investment is an attempt to demonstrate the Federal Government's  commitment and recognition of the strategic importance of private capital in economic development.', he said.