Notorious leader of the radical Islamic fundamentalist
sect, Boko-haram, Abubakar Shekau started his ‘ministry’ in an expansive land
located within a remote village in Niger state a few years ago before they were
dislodged by the state government.
Abubakar Shekau, the acclaimed spokesman of a factional
group of the sect led by, Abubakar Kaka who is believed to have been killed by
men of the Joint Task Force (JTF) in Maiduguri were dislodged from the then,
Daru-Islam by security operatives in the year, 2009.
Niger state Governor, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu who
made this known in Minna when he met with traders at the government house also
confirmed that the pictures of both Shekau and Abu Kaka posted regularly on the
sects websites and published in newspapers are the same with the ones the
security agents captured before the duo were dislodged from Niger state.
The Governor said but for the proactive nature adopted
by the security agencies in dislodging the group from the state and the support
given by state government, Niger state would been the headquarters of the
dreaded sect.
Governor Aliyu said it is necessary for all Nigerians
to rise up and oppose the activities of the fundamentalists which he said has
had untold negative effects on the economy of not only the northern part of the
country but Nigeria as a whole.
He said for any business to thrive it must be in a
peaceful and secured environment, insisting that in view of the series of
attacks on security men in Niger state capital government will tighten security
within and outside Minna the state capital and therefore asked that they should
cooperate with security operatives handling the exercise.
Defending the movement of the old Minna central market
to its present location, Governor Aliyu said the market when it was established
did not envisage the rapid growth the state capital had witnessed.
When the market was at its old location it contributed
to congestion being experienced in the city centre, Aliyu said adding that the
other market at PZ area of Minna will soon be moved to the Kure market to give
more room for the development of the Minna city centre.
Aliyu told his guests that critics of the
administration were those who wanted him to be sharing public money without
embarking on any developmental programmes, insisting that the same people will
in no distant future turn round to say he (Aliyu) spent 8 years without
anything to show for it.
Governor Aliyu who solicited for the continued support
of the administration in its developmental strides said, “My government will
not share money, what is uppermost in my mind now is the development of the
state”.
The traders through their spokesmen
Alhaji Mohammed Umoru and Alhaji Dandere pledged their loyalty to Governor
Aliyu and his administration but asked that the governor should reduce the
series of levies they have to pay daily in the markets.