Boko Haram wants to kill me - Soyinka

NOBEL Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has disclosed that he is one of the prominent Nigerians on the list of Boko Haram sect marked for assassination.
In an interview with TheNEWS magazine, Soyinka said he was not only on the assassination list but also close to the top.

Soyinka said he had reported this to the security agencies in the country and they confirmed the information, but he expressed disappointment that they had not taken action on the threat.

Speaking, however, with the Nigerian Tribune on the issue, the spokesperson of the State Security Service (SSS), Marylyn Ogar, said she could not comment on it, as she was yet to read the interview granted by Soyinka.

“The reason for this programme (elimination), which I know is very much their third phase, is that those pushing this agenda know very well that this could be the last straw that will break the camel’s back.

“And they would rather this country broke up and possibly in an inferno than continue to accept the loss, even though temporary loss of power in this country. For these people, government is the only business around,” Soyinka had said.

The Nobel Laureate said he was not against dialogue, but the Boko Haram sect did not make public their demands, so that they could sit at a round table with government.

He added that dialogue did not require a group to constitute itself to a terror, adding that PRONACO, which he joined during the administration of former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, successful organised its conference, amended the constitution of Nigeria and presented the document to the government without violence.
Soyinka said he could not be cowed into submission by the Boko Haram or any other violent group, stressing that “I believe that one should not beg for existence. If the price of not coming to table is that you want to eliminate me, and you can do so, please do so. I am 77.”

Soyinka said President Goodluck Jonathan was underestimating the desperation of the forces behind the Boko Haram sect, not considering the Islamic struggle in countries like Iraq, where fundamentalist Islamic groups attacked one another, even in their sanctuary of worship and they retaliated with higher casualty figure.

Reacting, the Force Public Relations Officer, Olusola Amore, said the police were yet to receive any report on the matter, but advised Professor Soyinka to report the matter to security agencies anywhere near him.

Culled from Nigerian Tribune