He has apologized for comments, says DSS
A former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Obadiah Mailafia, has admitted he got the information about a Northern Governor leading the Boko Haram insurgents from Fulani traders in a market.
Mailafia was invited by the Department of State Services (DSS) over the claims.
After his release from DSS custody, he refused to retract his statements and insisted he was ready to lay down his life like former South Africa president, Nelson Mandela.
However, in an interview with BBC Hausa on Thursday, Mailafia revealed he got the information from “some Fulani traders” in the market and did not know that his comments would go viral.
Mailafia said he explained to the DSS what he knew about the incident and apologised for any statements he made that offended others.
He added that he is a fan of President Muhammadu Buhari, “but there are bad people who don’t give him the advice to help him”.
The Northern Governors Forum (NGF) has called on security agencies to investigate Mailafia’s allegations.
On Friday, the Department of State Services, DSS, insisted that the former presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, “profusely apologized” for his comment when he was invited.
Mailafia had alleged that a Northern governor was the Commander of Boko Haram. He also alleged that Boko Haram insurgents were plotting a civil war in 2022.
In response to his allegation, DSS had invited him for questioning which he honoured.
Speaking after his interrogation, Mailafia had declared that he stood by his earlier revelations on Boko Haram.
However, DSS spokesman, Peter Afunanya stated that Mailafia’s comment was an indication that he was just playing to the gallery.
In a statement he signed, Afunanya said the comment of the ex-Deputy CBN governor showed that some elites are making desperate efforts to use their exalted positions to cause total breakdown of law and order.
The statement reads: “On 27th July, 2020, the Department of State Services (DSS) alerted the nation about desperate efforts by some notable personalities to use their exalted positions; take advantage of developments in the country and cause a total breakdown of law and order. It also revealed that part of the orchestrations was to engage in divisive acts as well as use inciting statements to pit one group against another.
“With latest occurrences in the country, Nigerians may have no reason to doubt the Service’s earlier pronouncement. Dr. Obadiah Mailafiya’s recent outburst aimed at playing to the gallery and creating unnecessary tension is a confirmation of his group’s desperation to breach the peace.
“It is even more condemnable that Mailafiya, who had profusely apologized during his visit to the Service’s Plateau State Command for his ignoble statement, would, afterwards, announce to the world that he stood by his misguided eruption.”
