Two prominent members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Borno State, northeast Nigeria, have been shot dead by gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram members.
The victims, Alhaji Ibrahim Usman Gula, the PDP zonal Vice Chairman for Southern Borno, and Hajia Gambo, PDP woman leader, Shehuri Ward in Maiduguri, were shot dead in their homes last night.
They were said to have played prominent roles during President Goodluck Jonathan’s visit to the state last week and the attack may not be unconnected with his refusal to grant amnesty to the faceless terrorists wreaking havoc in Northern Nigeria.
The terrorists were said to be incensed when President Jonathan told northern leaders during his visit to Borno State that he won’t grant amnesty to ghosts.
The extremists have come out to say they are not ghosts.
When contacted to confirm the story this morning, Isa Gusau, the Special Adviser on Media to Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, told P.M.NEWS that it was true that two politicians were killed, but could not establish if the killing could be linked to President Jonathan’s visit to Borno.
He said killing of politicians in the state over the past four years has become a routine affair, arguing that the killing of the two politicians should not be linked to Jonathan’s visit.
The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Mohammed Sa’ad Abubakar III, had asked the Federal Government to grant amnesty to Boko Haram members who had killed scores of people in the north, just the way the late President Umaru Yar’Adua granted amnesty to Niger Delta militants.
The Sultan’s request has attracted widespread condemnation by northern Christians and the Emir of Anka, Zamfara State, Alhaji Attahiru Ahmad, who said: “Amnesty is for those people you know. How can you give amnesty to the people you don’t know? Where were our leaders when the Boko Haram were going to receive training outside the country? Let us check ourselves, if there must be justice, let us go back to the basics.”