Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, has alleged that the activities of Boko Haram sect was a deliberate act by enemies of President Goodluck Jonathan to tarnish the image of his administration.
The Alafin in a letter of sympathy to the president following the Nyanya/Abuja bomb blast, said the group’s alleged links to Islam was unfounded as he said that Boko Haram’s activities were against the injunctions of the religion.
In the letter dated April 16, 2014, the Monarch urged the president to seek international cooperation from neighbouring countries towards stemming the activities of the insurgents.
He said: “With the influx of mercenary fighters, grenades and rocket launchers, the Boko Haram’s senseless and unreasonable warfare has taken an international dimension and the time is ripe now for Your Excellency to seek for support and cooperation of the international communities, most especially our neighbours, Cameroon, Niger Republic and Chad, to put an end to this threat on the Sovereignty and Security of Nigeria.”
Denying any link between the group and Islam, he said: “the religion of Islam, of which I am a strong adherent, is a religion of peace, which forbids and abhors the killing of any human soul. In other words, the Boko Haram warfare is not fighting the cause of Islam but rather a political tool in the hands of those that do not wish you and your government well and therefore, the urgent need for enhancement of intelligence, logistics, holistic and political intervention, to uproot this menace that has become an international embarrassment.
“It is my fervent prayers that the blessings of Almighty Allah will never forsake you and that Allah will continue to give you the wherewithal to continue to pilot the affairs of this largest Black African country in the continent.