Speaking
with newsmen, Sunday, Zanna said attempt by the JTF to link him with the Boko
Haram commander by claiming that he was arrested in his house was a plan to
frame him up.
The
senator told journalists in Abuja, that he believed the JTF was trying to rope
him in because of his recent interview in which he called for its withdrawal
from the state on account of failure to adhere to the rules of engagement.
His
words: “About 40 members of the JTF came to my house in four armoured vehicles
on the day in question. They ransacked my house and they did not see anything
incriminating. Then they brought out all the boys they met in my house who
included my children, aides and neighbours.
They
beat them and put them under the sun and asked them if they knew Shuaibu Bama
and one of them said yes. They asked the boy to lead them to where he
(Bama) was and that boy took them to where Shuaibu Bama was and they arrested
him.
“He was
not arrested in my house. He was arrested in a house which belongs to
Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff. The question is why did the JTF say that Shuaibu
Bama was arrested in the house of a serving senator?
I am
the only serving senator who has a house on the Dabuwa Road. Bama was not
arrested in my house. He was arrested at the house located at Rabi
Street, off Dambuwa Road. My case is a very clear case of framing.
But it has failed.”
Asked
if he had any relationship with the suspected Boko Haram commander and the
sect, Sen. Zanna admitted that the suspect was his nephew and once lived with
him but that he had to send him away from his house about a year ago,
when he discovered that the man was into drugs, beat his children and
threatened even himself.
His
words, “Shuaibu Bama is my sister’s son. He once stayed with me but I
sent him away about a year ago when I discovered that he was a drug addict and
was beating my children. He even threatened me and also threatened to
kill his mother. I did not know him to be a member of Boko Haram..”
Asked
if he has been questioned by the JTF, the senator said no. According to
him, “it was only this morning (Sunday) that I received a text saying that the
Director-General) of SSS wants to see me.”
Meanwhile,
the Director-General, D-G, of the SSS, Mr. Ekpenyong Ita, has
warned politicians fanning the embers of division in the country to put a stop
to their acts, as the organisation would no longer tolerate those who try to
create mischief in order to unsettle the nation.
He
spoke at the graduation ceremony of its officials from the organisation’s
training school, in Abuja, at the weekend.
“Let me
reiterate the point that Nigeria can never be divided by the activities of some
misguided, ignorant terrorists or those unscrupulous individuals whose
activities and utterances kept chiselling though unsuccessfully the very
foundation of those things we hold dear, particularly the unity of this
country. To this last group of people, I am saying enough is enough”, he
said.
He
added that service would continue to be proactive in its strategy in
intelligence gathering and collaboration with other security agencies in the
effort to stop the activities of terrorists, in the country.
Source:
Vanguard
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