The residents of Biu, Borno state on Thursday, March 30, 2017 came out in droves to protest the suspension of Senator Ali Ndume by the Nigerian Senate.
In what will be termed as a ‘reactionary protest’ to the latest happenings in the Senate, residents of the town of Biu in Borno came out to protest the suspension of the former senate majority leader, who represents Borno South senatorial district, Herald reports.
Ali Ndume was suspended for six months by the senate committee on ethics and privileges headed by Senator Anyanwu, for making false allegations against his colleagues.
The allegations are centred around calling for a probe into fake media reports about a seized bulletproof Range Rover linked to Senate President Bukola Saraki and that of certificate falsification by Senator Dino Melaye.
The senate committee on ethics cleared Senator Saraki and Senator Melaye after hearing testimonies from concerned parties and receiving documentary evidence from Melaye, his university, and the importer of the said Range Rover.
The protest was tagged, We stand with Senator Ali Ndume, and were composed primarily of the residents of the town.
Ali Ndume Linked To Boko Haram
Ali Ndume is also standing trial for his involvement with the Islamist terrorist group, Boko Haram. Commandants of the terrorist group had named him as a sponsor of the group’s activities including providing golf cars for bombing operations.
During the trial, which is still on-going, a witness from the secret police told the court that investigators found that Ndume contacted a spokesperson of Boko Haram 73 times in one month. The senator has denied the charges which contravened Sections 3(b), 4(1) (a) and 7(1) (b) of the Terrorism Prevention Act.
In September 2016, a self-confessed spokesman of the Boko Haram, Ali Sanda Umar Konduga, a.k.a Al-Zawahiri, who was sentenced to three years imprisonment without option of fine and released from prison, was rearrested at the residence of Senator Ndume in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.
A police officer who pleaded anonymity, said Konduga was identified, beaten and rearrested on Wednesday, September 14, 2016 after sneaking into the senator’s house the third time since last Sunday, September 11, this year.
Konduga, according to family sources, “kept on coming to the senator’s house purposely to apologise to the immediate family for indicting Ndume, who was charged for providing Konduga with politicians’ phone numbers and not disclosing information to authorities under Nigeria’s Terrorism Prevention Act.”
