Ali Sanda Umar Konduga, otherwise known as Usman Al-Zawahiri, was paraded by the Department of Security Services [DSS] in Abuja yesterday as the captured former spokesman of the dreaded Boko Haram sect. DSS said he was recently captured in Maiduguri, Borno State and was later moved to Abuja.Konduga told newsmen at the service's headquarters that he was a former student of the late sect leader Mohammed Yusuf and was at one time the sect's spokesman. He said he was responsible for the threatening text messages sent to highly placed individuals whom the sect considered as stumbling blocks in its quest to dislodge the All Nigeria Peoples Party [ANPP] from power in Borno State. Among those who received the threatening messages were Senator Sanusi Daggash and the Chairman of the Borno State Election Petition Tribunal, Justice Sabo Adamu.DSS' Deputy Director, Public Relations Marilyn Ogar described Konduga as a former political thug operating in Maiduguri under a group widely known as ECOMOG. She said he was arrested on November 3 at Gwange Quarters in Maiduguri. She said, 'His arrest further confirms the Service's position that some of the Boko Haram extremists have political patronage and sponsorship. This is more so as Al-Zawahiri has so far made valuable confessions in this regard.'Ogar said most of the text messages he sent to Justice Adamu were scripted and relayed to him by a member of the National Assembly and that the name Al-Zawahiri was given to him by the said politician to portray him as an extremist as well as conceal his true identity. He stole a SIM card which he used in sending the text messages, she said.Konduga told reporters that he actually sent threatening text messages to former minister Daggash because the sect believed he undermined the efforts of the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] to win the recent governorship election in the state. He said, 'After the election I consulted Senator Ali Ndume and discussed why the PDP failed to win the election, including subversive effort by Daggash and he asked me to take whatever action possible. I sent threatening text message to Daggash.'He also said he was in contact with the late Ambassador Sa'idu Pindar and at different times discussed issues on the failure of the PDP to win elections in Borno State, including the effort to scuttle the election petition tribunal's moves at confirming the victory of the ANPP in the state. Konduga added, 'It was resolved that I should send threatening messages to the chairman Justice Adamu which I did. The threats led to the relocation of the tribunal from Maiduguri to Abuja. Let me tell you that we (Boko Haram) don't want the ANPP and former governor Ali Sheriff and we are ready to support any party that opposes their cause, including the PDP and CPC.'Former President Olusegun Obasanjo was also disliked by the sect on the grounds that he was seen as an ally of the former governor Sheriff, he said. 'That is why we sent threatening messages to him.'Ogar said other people the suspect sent threatening messages to included Jigawa state governor Sule Lamido, Niger state governor Mu'azu Babangida Aliyu and Ambassador Dalhatu Sarki Tafida.Konduga also said the sect did not trust the government's committee on the security in the North East because 'its chairman Galtimari and other members were close to Sheriff. We asked Senator Ndume why he joined the committee and he said he was not an ally of the former governor and was not defending his cause.' He said government also makes pledges which it never implements, and the sect will not accept any pledge by government.Ogar said the threatening messages to the tribunal chairman and those sent to the attorney general and minister of justice were made by a serving legislator who also promised to send the telephone numbers of the members of the Galtimari committee to Konduga.Asked whether he still identifies with the Boko Haram sect, Konduga said he does but that the sect sacked him as its spokesman and suspended him from further activities because he was suspected of having close ties with security forces. 'At the end of the 2009 encounter with security forces many of our members relocated to other states and after sometime we regrouped. Three people were selected as spokesmen for the sect namely Abu Darda, Abu Kaka and Abu Zaid. From then I relinquished my position as mouthpiece for the sect,' Konduga said.Responding to yesterday's disclosures by the DSS, Governor Mu'azu Babangida Aliyu of Niger State said it was untrue that he received messages of threat from the Boko Haram sect, describing it as 'a cock and bull story.'Speaking through his Chief Press Secretary Malam Danladi Ndayebo, the governor denied ever receiving any threat message from the sect, adding that the former Boko Haram spokesman should not be taken seriously. 'We would have at least alerted security agencies if Governor Aliyu had received any such message,' Ndayebo said last night.
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