‘Some politicians supported terrorists,’ Wole Soyinka says

monjola sotubo

February 22, 2016 12:54 PM

Soyinka also reportedly said that the sect had begun to rebel against the forces that led to its emergence.

Wole Soyinka

Nobel Laureate, Professor

The Nobel Laureate is said to have made the comments during an interview on British Television station, Channel 4.

“This is what is happening right now: in Nigeria, and I think that many people are admitting it today, there were politicians who actually supported what Boko Haram was doing,” Soyinka said.

“They supported them for various reasons because in their lust for power and pursuit for power, they were ready to sacrifice anything or to ally with anything, and of course they found that they have been turned against (by) the very forces that helped them.

“This is how Boko Haram really acquired its power, its nuisance value, and its effect on the society, because it had backing from even what we call mainstream Islam.

“That is not the situation today: most people are beginning to realise that we are dealing with a party of death, their ideology is death and there is only one way to deal with people like that. If you say you disagree with their ideology, you ensure you hit them before they hit you,” he added.

Professor Soyinka had earlier said that Nigeria would never get rid of Boko Haram.

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