Boko Haram: Alumni Berates SSS Over Continued Detention Of Kogi Varsity Lecturer

Old Students of Al-bayan Islamic Secondary School, Jos, the former school of Dr. Muhammad Nazeef, lecturer at the Kogi State University, who was arrested by the State Security Service following allegations that he was the recruitment officer for Boko Haram, have appealed to the security agency to treat his case with caution to avoid being seen as helping to promote the sect’s cause.

In a statement signed by their National Interim Chairman, Barrister Aminu Kabir Shamaki yesterday in Birnin Kebbi, the Old Students said the continued incarceration of Nazeef could eventually render efforts of the SSS to contain the Boko Haram insurgency useless.

“We, the old students of Al-bayan Islamic Secondary School, Jos wish to call on the SSS to carefully treat the case of Dr Nazeef Yunus with caution, so as not to be seen as assisting the dreaded Boko Haram movement. This will eventually render all your efforts in containing their (Boko Haram) menace useless.

“To us, arresting and persecuting Dr. Nazeef is a dangerous message to whoever dares to criticize Boko Haram openly. Arresting and persecuting people like Dr. Nazeef, while security forces whose failure to take necessary action got hundreds of people killed roam free, should shock our collective conscience.  It is a known fact that suspected Boko Haram members have gunned down more than a dozen Muslim clerics for allegedly speaking out against its tactics and this did not stop Dr. Nazeef from criticizing them and saying what he believes to be right.

“This is evident in his series of lectures, his PhD thesis, being a senior lecturer at a university and similarly as a director of a school which graduated lawyers, journalists, lecturers and many more. How could a university senior lecturer ever have a belief that western education is a sin?

“It is our belief that widespread poverty, corruption, security forces abuse, and long standing impunity for a range of crimes have created a fertile ground for violent militancy. And it cannot be stopped by arresting respected and innocent citizens like Dr. Nazeef”, the statement said.