Governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima has blamed his predecessor, Ali Modu Sheriff for allowing the emergence of terrorist group, Boko Haram.

He said this while delivering a keynote address at the 2017 Murtala Muhammed memorial lecture in Abuja on Monday.

Shettima said Sheriff mismanaged a dispute between the army and followers of Mohammed Yusuf, which led to the emergence of Boko Haram.

“I have restrained myself from blaming the previous government for the emergence of Boko Haram, but the fact of the matter is that Ali Modu Sheriff, the former governor,  allowed his ego to stand in the way of a dispute between the army and followers of Mohammed Yusuf,” he said.

“Ali Modu Sheriff mismanaged the crisis by ignoring the situation, and he played into the hands of the insurgents.‎”

He also said former President Goodluck Jonathan did not understand the Boko Haram crisis.

Shettima said the notion that Boko Haram was sponsored by Northerners to discredit his administration had stopped him from tackling the insurgency.

”I think before President Jonathan’s fact-finding mission, he didn’t understand the Boko Haram crisis until March 2013‎,” he said.

Azeez