The DIA had said in a shallow statement that it only invited Olawunmi to its headquarters
Human rights’ activist, Omoyele Sowore, has knocked the Defence Intelligence Agency for claiming it only invited a former Nigerian Navy Commodore, Kunle Olawunmi, and did not declare him wanted.
Sowore noted that the DIA by its subtle strategy had exposed its inefficiency by inviting a retired military officer to give them information on bandits and terrorists that was everywhere.
SaharaReporters had earlier reported that the DIA confirmed SaharaReporters’ report that it declared Olawunmi, wanted for exposing in an interview how the President Muhammadu Buhari's administration did not probe high profile politicians whom Boko Haram terrorists named as their sponsors.
The DIA had said in a shallow statement that it only invited Olawunmi to its headquarters in a ”text message to come over as a retired military officer to shed more lights with the information that would assist the AFN to further fight against terrorism, insurgency and banditry.”[story_link align="left"]98202[/story_link]
In his reaction, Sowore said, “They’ve now downgraded from WANTED to “INVITE” to Retired Naval Commodre Kunle Olawunmi but this is still part of their tactics and strategy. They had the entire Channels Television anchors of Sunrise Daily taken from Lagos and Abuja to Asokoro Villa over one interview and grilled all day long at NBC, now inviting the person interviewed to come and tell you what you already know. #RevolutionNow.”
SaharaReporters had last Wednesday reported that Olawunmi spoke when he featured on Channels Television’s ‘Sunrise Daily’ breakfast programme.
He had condemned Tuesday's attack by bloodthirsty bandits on the Kaduna campus of Nigeria’s foremost military university, the Nigerian Defence Academy, where two military officers were killed and another kidnapped.
The Professor of Global Security Studies had noted that he was a member of the Intelligence Brief at the Defence Headquarters during the leadership of the then Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Abayomi Olonisakin (retd.).[story_link align="left"]98211[/story_link]
The intelligence expert said he told the then CDS that the centre of gravity of the Boko Haram insurgency ravaging the North-East and spreading to other parts of Nigeria was the sponsor.
“I told General Olonisakin then that the centre of this problem cannot be solved the same way we solved the problem of the Niger Delta. The Niger Delta problem was solved during (Ex-President Umaru) Yar’adua basically by me and I told them that we can’t use that same template for Boko Haram.
“I told General Olonisakin to look at the centre of gravity of the problem. I was made a member of the committee in 2016-2017 including former Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru that died.
“I told them that the centre of gravity of Boko Haram in Nigeria is the sponsors of the programme. It was beyond us because the job we needed to do was kinetic but we cannot resolve the issues of sponsors of Boko Haram that were in Buhari’s government that we know them. That was why we couldn’t pursue that aspect that could have resolved the issue because we need to arrest people.
“Recently, 400 people were gathered as sponsors of Boko Haram, why is it that the Buhari government has refused to try them? Why can’t this government bring them to trial if not that they are partisan and part of the charade that is going on?
“You remember this Boko Haram issue started in 2012 and I was in the military intelligence at that time. We arrested those people. My organisation conducted interrogation and they (suspects) mentioned names. I can’t come on air and start mentioning names of people that are presently in government that I know that the boys that we arrested mentioned. Some of them are governors now, some of them are in the Senate, some of them are in Aso Rock.
“Why should a government decide to cause this kind of embarrassment and insecurity to the sense of what happened yesterday (Tuesday at the NDA)?”
Olawunmi had also said that the Department of State Services had tremendous information on terrorists but they could not do anything except by the body language of the Commander-In-Chief.