Why I Supported Boko Haram, Al Qaeda – Pantami

Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Ali Isa Pantami, has admitted making some controversial comments supportive of Boko Haram, Al Qaeda and Taliban and for Jihad in Nigeria.

The minister who as recent as before the advent of the present administration was also quoted as lamenting the killing of his Boko Haram brothers by the Nigerian military.

“This jihad is an obligation for every single believer, especially in Nigeria,’’ Pantami was quoted to have said in one of his vicious preaching in the 2000s.

 “Oh God, give victory to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda,” he was also quoted to have prayed.

However, speaking on Saturday, while answering questions during his daily Ramadan lecture at Al-Noor Mosque in Abuja on Saturday, Pantami who has been under fire renounced the comments even as he said that the attacks against him were politically motivated.

“For 15 years, I have moved round the country while educating people about the dangers of terrorism. I have traveled to Katsina, Gombe, Borno, Kano states and Difa in Niger Republic to preach against terrorism.

Noting his present differences with Boko Haram, Pantami said: “I have engaged those with Boko Haram ideologies in different places. I have been writing pamphlets in Hausa, English and Arabic. I have managed to bring back several young persons who have derailed from the right path.

“Some of the comments I made some years ago that are generating controversies now were based on my understanding of religious issues at the time, and I have changed several positions taken in the past based on new evidence and maturity,” Pantami said in drawing attention to his changed positions including support for Boko Haram.

“I was young when I made some of the comments; I was in university, some of the comments were made when I was a teenager. I started preaching when I was 13, many scholars and individuals did not understand some of international events and therefore took some positions based on their understanding, some have come to change their positions later.” Pantami, however, did not address the specific issue of lamenting the killing of Boko Haram who he said were his brothers in some of the now released videos.

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