The Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Isa Pantami, has tried to absolve himself from a link with Boko Haram founder, Muhammad Yusuf as captured in a viral YouTube video.
In a retweeted post, Isa Pantami stated “defied Muhammad Yusuf (Pioneer Boko Haram Leader) using his vast insight on Islam on why the Boko Haram Ideology is of no religious connotation as far as Islam is concerned.”
This was against the report that the Communication Minister, Alhaji Isa Ali Ibrahim, also known as Sheikh Pantami, was placed under the watch list of Boko Haram by America’s Intelligence Service.
Pantami’s tweet described the report of the Minister being added to a US terror watch-list as a “malicious calumny to smear” him.
The tweet reads ”Over a decade ago, Sheikh @DrIsaPantami defied Muhammad Yusuf (Pioneer Boko Haram Leader) using his vast insight on Islam, on why the Boko Haram Ideology is of no religious connotation as far as Islam is concerned I perceive this as a malicious calumny to smear the Sheikh…
Ibrahim is placed over his alleged role with AlQadai and Boko Haram, terrorist groups.
A Deputy Secretary General of the Supreme Sharia Council in Nigeria and a former student of Salafist ideologies, he was trained in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East with other top Islamic jihadists.
Before his appointment as a minister, Ibrahim was a known Islamic preacher and held what was termed ‘dangerous views’ against the American government with allegiance to Al-Qaeda.
According to a report, the minister was said to be a very close confidant of the late Mohammed Yusuf, the killed leader of Boko Haram with whom he allegedly shared jihadist doctrines.
The Western Intelligence said the minister had ties with Abu Quatada al Falasimi and other Al-Qaeda leaders that he revered and spoke glowingly of in several of his videos on YouTube.
In one of his narratives, Ibrahim had eulogised Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi as a great leader, who joined Al-Qaeda group after emigrating to Afghanistan at the end of the September 11, 2001 terror attack on the World Trade Centre in America.
This is what he wrote about Abu Musab: “Under the Osama’s leadership, he became the unit commander of army of AlQaeda with the support of the Commander of the loyal Maula Umar (Taliban leader).
“It was after the September 11 attack that he suffered serious leg injury and was taken to Iraq for treatment where he spent a long time recovering.”
Ibrahim wrote: “When Iraq was attacked by the enemies of God, this great man joined in the fight leading his group against the US military and its allies in Iraq.”
According to Middle Eastern Intelligence, corroborated by its Western counterparts, photographs of Sheikh Isa Ali Pantanmi and his jihadist allies are trending.
