By Ummi Ismaeel, Minna
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Niger State, Mr. Jonathan Tsado Vatsa, has dismissed reports linking former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, to armed bandits and Boko-Haram terrorists.
He also advised the former Nigerian leader to come out clean on the allegations ‘‘because it is weighty.’’
Vatsa, a former commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism in Niger State, was reacting to a publication alleging that a helicopter belonging to Gen. Abdulsalam was severally sighted supplying food and weapons to armed bandits terrorizing the state.
Though he described the report as ‘‘unfortunate and wicked’’, Vatsa, a former Publicity Secretary of the ruling party, however advised Abdulsalami not to stop at a mere issuing of press statement to exonerate himself from the said report.
“I had expected the former head of state to rather address the people of the state to put records straight in trying to clear himself of this heinous allegation”, Vatsa said, expressing surprise that the rumour, which has been on since last year, has refused to fizzle out.
According to the former commissioner, “Nobody has been able to show the general public the image of the alleged crashed helicopter or where it was dispatching food, arms of whatever.
“We would have loved to see the image of the said helicopter.
“This rumour is over one year now that a helicopter belonging to the former Head of state, supplying food and weapons was brought down by the villagers using “black powers” but up till now nobody has shown us picture or the crash site. This is really an issue of concern”.
Meanwhile, the former commissioner has thrown his weight behind the call by a northern Nigeria based group, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), for a full investigations into the report linking the former head of state and the mystery behind the helicopter saga.
Vatsa, who is the co-ordinator on Public Affairs to Governor Sani Bello nevertheless enjoined Nigerians to shun partisanship, ethnic and regional inclinations and support efforts that will end insecurity in the country.
“We must join hands to address this spate of insecurity before it consumes all of us”, Vatsa said, adding that, linking the former Head of State to helicopter supplying weapons and food items to armed bandits and Boko-Haram without any physical evidence could be a costly distraction from the reality on ground.
The former APC spokesman, who commended Nigerian Army and other security agencies for giving hope to Nigerlites, said, “I think the security agents have what it takes to do thorough investigation into the matter and let Nigerians know the true situation. “I commend the Army and other security agencies for the on-going military operations in forests across the state. Their efforts are beginning to yield positive results at least we can see some Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) returning to their homes”.
