Minister Pantami Supports Terrorist Groups
Minister Pantami supports terrorist groups like the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, not Boko Haram because it is mandatory for every Muslim believer to do so.
Though Nigeria’s Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Isa Pantami claims to not have any allegiance to Boko Haram, he stated that he is in support of the global extremist groups: the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.
According to the minister, jihad is a must for every single Muslim believer, especially in Nigeria, Mr. Pantami said in one of his vicious preachings in the 2000s. “Oh God, give victory to the Taliban and to al-Qaeda (Allahumma’ nṣur Ṭālibān wa-tanẓīm al Qā‘ida).”
Mr. Pantami’s call to Jihad and unfeigned support for murderous groups portray him as a die-hard Islamic fundamentalist. Yet, President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Mr. Pantami as the communications minister to control the country’s enormous data and telephone foundation and other sensitive information that are of national intelligence.
On Monday the 12th of April, the minister Mr. Pantami threatened to sue some media groups for reporting that he is on the U.S. terror watchlist for supporting Boko Haram.
The minister had claimed on Twitter that his lectures that are purely against the doctrines and all other evil people (terrorists) have been available for more than 15 years, including debates that put his life in danger against many criminals.
But he did not acknowledge that he is a devoted supporter of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, as revealed in a 2019 academic document ‘Debating Boko Haram.’
Mr. Pantami invited Muslims, especially “Ahlus Sunna” (Salafis), to be beware of politicians and religious leaders who call for peace and understanding but fight back with jihad.
“This jihad is a must for every single believer, especially in Nigeria (hādhā jihād farḍ ‘ayn ‘ala kull muslim wa-khuṣūṣan fī Nījīriyā),” he stated.
The comments of the minister were translated by Professor Andrea Brigaglia, an African expert at Naples University located in Italy. Musa Ibrahim a Nigerian scholar of the University of Florida in the United States contributed to the paper that explored the existence of Boko Haram in Nigeria.
The research was published in March 2019, several months before Mr. Buhari appointed Mr. Pantami as a minister. Mr. Pantami’s violent preachings, which he rendered in Hausa and Arabic throughout the late 1990s and early to mid-2000s, had not been reported in the Nigerian mainstream media.
The document explained in detail how Mr. Pantami volunteered to mobilize the Hisba police of the North, requesting to be chosen as the “commander” (kwamanda) of a militia that was ready to travel to Yelwa Shendam to fight for the Muslims.
The minister’s speech was about 20 minutes long, and concluded with the prayer, “Oh God, give victory to the Taliban and to al-Qaeda (Allahumma’ nṣur Ṭālibān wa-tanẓīm alQā‘ida).”
It was reported that during his speech, Pantami was in tears, and his voice was often broken by sighs. one could easily see the genuineness of his emotional response to what was, without doubt, a dramatic episode in the history of violent conflict in Plateau state.
In a second speech that was delivered in 2006, Mr. Pantami offered his public condolences for the death of the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, al-Zarqawi.
The minister prayed for God to forgive the sins of the Al-Qaeda leader because he is only human and therefore prone to making mistakes.
The document also noted that Mr. Pantami explained that in the community of the Prophet they have some awesome people, people of serious faith, who follow the creed of the Sunna and he is grateful to them because the enemies of God are unable to find peace in this world.
Finally, sometime in 2012, former President Goodluck Jonathan made a passive reference to the fact that terrorists and their sympathizers had infiltrated his government. Boko Haram and other terror groups in the country have continued to terrorize Nigerians by the deliberate destruction of lives and property.