Aregbesola
The Federal Government has mobilized virtually all security agencies in the country to put Osun State governor, Engr Rauf Aregbesola on 24-hour surveillance over an intelligence report generated by the Department of State Security (DSS) which accused the governor of creating an army of Islamic jihadists as a prelude to seceding from the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
A highly placed security source in Abuja told Saturday Sun that the decision to place the governor under intense security watch has become necessary following a detailed security report on him, a copy of which was obtained by Saturday Sun.
The security report, which the Federal Government is acting on, has, however, been condemned by Governor Aregbesola’s political party, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). In a statement on Wednesday, the party described the security report as a plot by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to destabilize the South West ahead of the 2015 general elections.
Not ready to take chances over the information provided by the DSS on the activities of the governor, the Federal Government through the office of the National Security Adviser, Gen. Andrew Azazi was said to have directed all members of the Joint Intelligence Board (JIB) comprising all security, intelligence and law enforcement agencies in the country, to deploy their machinery and watch the governor round the clock.
“There is no need to be sentimental about the issue, the word secession is enough for the Federal Government to have moved in but in a democracy, federal might has to be deployed with caution to avoid a total collapse of the entire democratic structure. This is why the first option of mounting a thorough surveillance around him (Aregbesola) is being adopted,” a red neck security source explained.
Trouble started when the Director General of DSS, Mr. Ekpeyong Ita compiled a security report on the Osun governor, accusing him of trying to create a Boko Haram in Osun State through an Islamic organization called Jama’atu Ta’awunil Muslimeen Society of Nigeria (TAWUN).
A copy of the security report addressed to the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. O.A Ihejirika and dated March 19, 2012, stated that “there are indications that Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State is nursing the ambition of islamizing the state. Already, he has taken control of the Jama’atu Ta’awunil Muslimeen Society of Nigeria (TA’AWUN) spearheading the use of hijab in all public schools in the state. The group founded in 1994 at Iwo by one Dawood IMRAN-MOLAASAN(Sheikh), has also spread its tentacles to Kwara, Lagos, Sokoto and Kaduna states”
The reported further stated that presently, “members of the group serve as bodyguards to the governor and are making frantic efforts to dislodge conventional security operatives from the Government House. Their unprofessional conduct is a source of embarrassment to well-meaning indigenes of the state, especially at public functions attended by the governor.”
In pursuit of the agenda, the report alleged that “the state government is planning to introduce a general uniform for all primary and secondary schools in the state that will be acceptable to the group, not minding the feelings of the Christian population. The governor has also changed the name of the state from ‘Osun State’ to ‘The State of Osun’ which is at variance with the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution.”
Other concerns raised by the report include the following:
That “the Nigerian Coat of Arms has been removed from government offices and replaced with the Coat of Arms of “The State of Osun.” The State anthem has equally replaced the Nigerian National Anthem at schools, state public functions and at the opening and closing of transmission of the State radio and television stations. The governor also deploys members of Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (OYES) and O’clean Corps as State Police.”
That “through his activities, the governor has polarized the state along religious divides, with Muslims boasting that it is their time which they must utilize to the fullest. His involvement in the activities of TA’AWUN has emboldened the sect to invade schools to enforce the wearing of hijab by female Muslim students.”
The report expressed deep concern that the introduction of an Islamic agenda “in a secular state is an invitation to chaos, particularly against the backdrop of the growing influence of the sect in the state’s polity,” adding that “some northern governors fraternized with members of Boko Haram before they graduated to the present status.”
Concluding, the report said it is “necessary that the attention of the governor be drawn to the implications of his excesses on the security of the state. More importantly, his secessionist tendencies should be checkmated, using necessary legal and Constitutional instruments.”
Culled: Sun
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