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| Shettima Ali Monguno |
Former Nigerian minister, Shettima Ali
Monguno, has been kidnapped in troubled Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.
Mr. Monguno, 92, was kidnapped by gunmen
as he left the mosque after Jumat prayers on Friday, in the Mafoni Ward area of
the city.
Mr. Monguno is a vocal and influential
politician and educationist.
The reasons for his kidnap is yet
unclear. But the Joint Military Task Force keeping peace in the region had
warned earlier in the week that the extremist Boko Haram sect had plans to
embark on kidnappings for ransom.
Reacting to the
kidnap of the former minister, a journalist, Abdulrafiu Lawal, who knows Mr.
Monguno well, said the abduction was an indication that Nigeria had lost its
values.
Mr. Lawal said,
“Shettima Ali Monguno has done so much for Borno and Nigeria as the country’s
first petroleum minister who pioneered oil exploration in the Chad basin.
“He retired from
public service many years ago,sold his house in Abuja to build a female hostel
for University of Maiduguri about seven years ago.
“The only house
he has now is the present one near Government House Maiduguri. He also donated
all his books to the Borno state library about nine years ago.
“He awards
scholarship annually to students in the state, a thing state governments and
politicians have only struggled to do.
“Does this
harmless elder statesman who served his fatherland selflessly deserved this
kind of treatment? We have lost our values.”
CORRECTION: Borno state government has informed Premium Times
that Mr. Monguno’s actual age is 92, not 87 as earlier reported.
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