Senior Special Adviser to President Jonathan on Public Affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe was a guest on BBC's Hardtalk this morning where he spoke about the increasing state of insurgency in Nigeria.
Addressing a question on allegations that everyday dozens of bodies are being transferred from the military headquarters prison called Dubar and deposited at a hospital in Maiduguri with the bodies showing signs of torture and brutality, he replied that the Nigerian Government and the military is suffering from an orchestrated plan to cause disaffection, alleging that people who are angry with the fact that Pres. Goodluck Jonathan won an election are doing everything within their power to fight his government. What he said below...
"You do not understand the holistic problem of Nigeria. President Jonathan has committed an offense. His major offense is that he won an election when some people in Nigeria, very strong and powerful feel that he ought not to have won and power ought not to be where it is currently resident. So people want to take this power by all means, at all cost, playing all sorts of gimmicks and all and they have a lot of money and a lot of influence both within Nigeria and outside Nigeria" he said. Continue...
On the idea that Boko Haram's increased activities in Northern Nigeria is as a result of high level of poverty, Okupe agreed, stating that it is because of prolonged neglect occasioned by past government.
"If you ask any objective Nigerian, they would tell you this is as a result of longstanding neglect by various governments, not the present administration because this government is only three years old"