Soldiers Death: Group Wants Ndume To Take Legal Action

 AISHA ABUBAKAR

The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum( AYCF) has asked Senator Ali Ndume to take immediate legal action against one Hassan Biu who made “spurious claims about Ndume  allegedly having links with Boko Haram insurgents”, describing the claim as “yet an insult on the Nigerian Senate”. 

In a media release in Kaduna, the National President of the group, Alhaji Yerima Shettima, noted that “Since a Court of competent jurisdiction had cleared him, it was a slap on the entire Nigerian legislature for a faceless person, masquerading as a public commentator to haul degrading accusations against a respected Senator of the Federal Republic, much less Chairman of Senate Committee on Nigerian Army”.

The AYCF described the stance of Hassan Biu as “Direct character assassination, because the matter has since ended with a Court pronouncement that Ndume was not guilty as alleged long ago”.

The statement also noted that “The way and manner the malicious allegation spread in many Nigerian newspapers is capable of ridiculing the image of not only Senator Ndume but that of the people of Borno South that he is representing”.

On news of the killing of over 800 soldiers, the AYCF said, “The masked media hack that attacked Ndume does not have authority to deny figures given by the Senate Committee Chairman on Army and therefore only the Nigerian Army can officially deny this figure or give the nation a different casualty figures. By suddenly stepping in with malicious article, the masked man has arrogated to himself the powers to say which figures are authentic. But we will be satisfied if the Senator will sue the media houses that gave an unknown writer the platform to spite a Senator”.

The AYCF said it has the conviction that a legal action by Senator Ndume, “capable of getting the media houses to produce the so-called Hassan Biu would not only set the records straight, but serve as a deterrent to others who might want to create the wrong impression that Ndume and the army were not united in the efforts to end insurgency”.

The AYCF then declared: “We insist Senator Ndume should take legal action against this libelous news by taking the media houses that provided the opportunity for maligning the lawmaker, so that both the hack and his sponsors would be promptly exposed. If the Senator fails to take such a decisive action he will face our anger”.

The group took the masked commentator to task, saying he has duty to come out and apologize to the lawmaker “before the wrath of democracy advocates and the long arm of the law catch up with him and his sponsors whoever they might be”.

Threatening fire and brimstone, the AYCF said “this kind of intellectual brigandage character assassination should be fought with all legitimate weapons at the disposal of all men and women of goodwill in this country.

“We cannot fathom why anyone sponsored by dark forces in this country should be aided and abetted by the media to malign innocent Nigerians in positions of authority.”